WITCH in the World of Avatar
by donki-shouben
Summary: The Guardians say goodbye! Find out what happens to Aang, Katara, Sokka, Irma, Cornelia, Taranee, Avatar Roku, the Oracle, Phobos, Prof. Kei, Nerissa and Koh in the Epilogues! Plus...the secret behind the Guardians' mission & why Aang was in that iceberg!
1. Prologue

W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar

by Me (and not You)

W.I.T.C.H. and related characters copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Avatar: The Last Airbender and related characters copyright Nickelodeon

**Notes: Set after W.I.T.C.H. Season 2, and during Avatar Season 2 - after "The Blind Bandit" but before "The Library", when Aang and the gang are traveling through the Earth Kingdoms, trying to find allies, while the Fire Nation is on the march.**

**This story stars the Guardians. The Avatar characters are guest stars.**

Prologue

_Phobos has escaped!_

That was the word the Guardians got from Meridian not too long ago.

Since then, they've been relentlessly searching for him.

Finally, the Guardians had to give up and call it a day.

However, just as Will Vandom was to say goodbye to the last Guardian with her, Taranee Cook, new intel reached them: _Phobos is building an elemental army...on another world!_

"We've got to check this out, Taranee!" said Will to her friend. "Do some recon, at least."

"Agreed, Will." replied the tired Fire Guardian.

"Better Guardian up!" Will exclaimed, holding up the infinitely powerful Heart of Candracar. "No idea what we'll face! Guardians unite!"

After being transformed, Will intoned "Heart of Candracar, take us to this new world!"

As bidden, a portal opened in midair.

"But, Will...", Taranee started to say, "...shouldn't we wait till we're..."

Just then, the portal turned into a vortex and sucked them in!

"...togetherrrrrrr! What's...happening?" continued Taranee, trying in vain to fight the pull of the portal.

"I...I don't" was all Will could spit out, before the vortex took them both from their homeworld and disappeared, leaving no trace that they were ever there.

_Next:_

_The World of the Avatar!_


	2. Fire From The Sky

Act I: Fire

_Fire is the element of power._

_The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will,_

_and the energy and drive to achieve what they want._

- Iroh, "Bitter Work"

Chapter 1: Fire From The Sky

The Fire Nation is on the attack!

Earth town after Earth town had fallen to their might!

And now they have come to the Earth Kingdom port of Kamasi.

But the people of Kamasi have a defender: The Avatar!

As Aang, the Avatar, wielded his awesome power of the air and parried fireball after fireball launched from the Fire Nation's warships, sparing the town (for the moment) their fury, Aang wondered how long he could last.

Would he be forced to summon the Avatar state, a form so powerful he could barely control it?

This sure was a bad week for Aang and his companions to separate, as they desperately searched for allies, supplies, and any information they could use against the armies of the Fire Nation. But it had to be done. Multiplied, their efforts had a greater likelihood of success.

In a heroic effort, Aang took the fight to the warships themselves!

With their ships damaged, the navy of the Fire Nation called off their attack and sailed away.

Just then, a huge fireball came screaming out of the sky!

As Aang moved to intercept it, he noticed the fireball had a humanoid form.

Hesitating, he watched as the human-sized fireball was about to collide with an empty field.

Suddenly, the fireball changed course!

It flew up!

Approaching the fireball, Aang saw only its top was on fire.

And it wasn't a fireball, at all!

It was a girl!

A flying, fire bending girl!

But fire benders can't fly!

Air was the sole province of the Air Nomads, and Aang was the last one of those!

And even Aang needed a glider to _really_ fly.

If, if fire benders could fly...

...It meant there was no hope left!

So Aang did the only thing he could.

Attack!

"Ah! What the..!" Taranee Cook, Fire Guardian from another world, said as air blast after air blast pelted her and blew her back.

Her wings, though, kept her aloft.

"If that's the way you want to play...", Taranee uttered, "...Fire!"

As Aang dodged her attack, he noticed something strange.

The fireball seemed to follow him!

As if it had a mind of its own!

Or...it was being controlled by the female fire bender?

But fire benders can't control the fire they unleash!

Before the fireball could consume his glider, Aang folded it and dropped to the ground, stopping his descent with an airball.

As he wondered just what it was he was facing, the townspeople made up their own minds.

"Fire Demon" they yelled, throwing rocks and sticks at the Fire Guardian.

"Ouch! What is the matter with you people?" Taranee cried.

Then, with a wave of her hand, fire sprang up out of the ground and surrounded the frightened villagers.

_She actually created fire away from her body? _Aang thought. _And commanded it? In a way no fire bender ever has??_

As fear, fear he's known only a few times since becoming the Avatar, mixed with wonder and curiousity at what he was seeing, Aang held back.

And into the breach ran more fearful townsfolk.

"Avatar! Protect us from the Fire Demon!" one shouted.

"Demon! Leave us alone!!" screamed others, raising pitchforks and brandishing long, pointy sticks at the floating Guardian of Fire.

"Fine. I'll leave." replied the miffed Taranee as she jetted off. "You people are crazy! Guess I'll have to get answers somewhere else!"

As the fire girl flew away, faster than he could follow, Aang wondered if he had made a huge mistake.

_Next:  
Will in Ba Sing Se!_


	3. Will To Fight

Chapter 2: Will to Fight

Tumbling out of the sky, Will saw a wall great enough to rival anything she saw in pictures of China.

Getting control of her erratic flight, she aimed for the town she spied beyond the wall.

Unseen, she came to a quiet rest behind a small building.

She thought of transforming back to plain 'ol Will Vandom, but since it was clear she wasn't on Earth anymore, she reasoned she must be on the world where Phobos was building his elemental army. Better to be prepared for anything.

Besides, her Guardian form might earn her some much-needed respect.

Entering the busy streets of Ba Sing Se on foot, Will reconsidered her decision.

Though the people reminded her of the simple folk of Meridian, they weren't a fraction as friendly. Simply put, the people paid her no heed.

In fact, some tried hard not to notice her at all.

"Hello?" Will said. "I need some help. I was told there are elementals on your world?"

Finally, a curious passersby engaged the Guardian.

"You mean earth benders?" he asked.

"Yes, earth is one." replied Will, grateful that anyone would talk to her. "Also, water, air..."

"There are no air benders left!" corrected the man. "Well, except for the Avatar, but..."

"I'm, sorry, but I don't know that much about it." explained Will. "I'm a Guardian of the Veil, an elemental from another world. I'm here on an important mission. I'm also looking for my friend, Taranee. We were separated, and..."

"Uh huh. Is she an elemental, too?" inquired the suddenly serious citizen of Ba Sing Se.

"Yes, she is." answered Will. "She's a fire guardian."

"I see." replied the man, who then motioned to two soldiers to join him.

"You will come with us." the officious man commanded.

"I don't think so." said Will, electricity leaping in her hands, a show of force to scare the soldiers away.

And the soldiers were frightened. Even more than Will expected.

But the man still demanded she come with them.

"Yeah?" the Energy Guardian challenged him. "You and what army?"

In an instant, Will was surrounded by the ninja-like agents of the Dai Li.

"Oh, for!" said the exasperated Will.

Will thought of fleeing, but, surrounded as she was, these idiots could hurt themselves trying to capture her.

Besides, maybe they had already captured Taranee, and that's why her mention stirred them against her?

Best to let them take her.

It's not like they could keep her, anyway, since she can 'fold' away at any time.

Thrown into a cage on wheels, Will couldn't resist pumping her captors for more information.

"Have you caught my friend, the fire guardian, too?" Will asked.

"Quiet!" barked the guard. "There is no talk of fire bending in Ba Sing Se!"

The way he said it, along with the fear shown earlier by the townspeople and the policeman, gave Will a bad feeling. A _real_ bad feeling!

Time to go, Will thought.

So she took out the Heart of Candracar to fold away to someplace safe.

But the glistening jewel attracted the attention of a street urchin.

Who jumped up, reached through the bars, and stole the Heart away from Will!

"Stop!" Will screamed as the young thief ran off "You don't know what you're doing!"

"I said quiet!" yelled the guard, as he delivered a crushing blow to Will's head.

"Nooo." Will moaned, succumbing to unconsciousness. "You'll destroy...both of ..."

_Next:  
What happened to the other girls?_


	4. Down To Earth

Chapter 3: Down to Earth

It was going to be one of _those_ days, thought Cornelia Hale.

One moment she was in her family's kitchen, preparing the perfect snack (Tofu with just a _hint_ of Oregano!), when a portal opened up next to the sink and pulled her through.

"Ptui!" spat out Cornelia, expelling dirt from her throat.

She'll have to tell Irma that, no, her healthy veggie meals don't taste like dirt! She had proof now. Yay her.

Apparently, the portal had dropped her in the dust..somewhere. She wasn't sure exactly where.

One of the joys of being a Guardian of the Veil. Or Infinite whatever.

Instinctively, Cornelia 'aged' herself a few years. While normally a fun way to appear more 'mature', here it was so she'd be better able to deal with any trouble she might encounter.

Thus prepared, she walked into town.

The people looked kind of like the people of Meridian. All rural and whatnot. With no motorized vehicles or shopping malls in sight! Sigh.

She was about to ask one where she was, when there was a disturbance.

A marauding band of Fire Nation soldiers on rhinoback galloped through the town's streets, spreading fear and chaos with every fireball launched at the village's structures.

"Run!" a townsfolk yelled. "Get to the stone shelters!"

"Call out the Guard!" another shouted.

Seeing only innocent people fleeing in terror, with no civil Guard in sight, Cornelia took it upon herself to lend a hand.

Telekinetically, that is.

While Cornelia wasn't 'Guardianed up', she still had some power.

As the fiery, ruff rhinoriders bore down on her, Corny's mind pulled a window shutter off a window and placed it right in front of the face of the lead Fire Nation rampager.

_WHAM!_

As the Fire soldier fell to the ground and his rhino ran off, the marauders behind him pulled up so as not to hit him, causing their rhinos to buck wildly and throw them off!

Though un-rhinoed, the soldiers of the Fire Nation weren't through causing trouble!

Maddened, they advanced on Cornelia, who buckled the street beneath their feet (a stunt she wouldn't have tried when they rode the rhinos, as Cornelia had no desire to hurt the kind of ugly, yet still innocent animals). Wobbly and unsteady, the troops of the Fire Nation crashed to the ground!

Seeing the soldiers so vulnerable, the townspeople screwed up their courage and fought back!

It was all the once-brazen soldiers could do to get out of town in one piece!

"That was amazing!" said one of the townsfolk. "Are you an earth bender?"

"Um", replied the uncertain Cornelia, "Yes, I suppose so. I do have earth powers."

"Were you sent by the Earth King?" asked a villager.

Before Cornelia could answer, a captured Fire Nation soldier was marched into town.

"Talk, fire fool!" demanded a town official. "Where is your army camped?"

The defiant Fire Nation soldier would say nothing.

Instead, his eyes glowed red with anger.

But Cornelia's eyes were on the soldier's hands.

She could tell he was trying to generate the fire he had used before to annihilate their homes.

Without thinking, the Earth Guardian summoned vines to bind the soldier securely.

And everyone's jaw dropped.

"D, did you do that, girl?" asked the trembling townie.

"Well, yes." answered the slightly confused Cornelia. "I said I had earth powers. I'm an Earth Guardian. One of W.I.T.C.H. We work for the Oracle. Perhaps you've heard of him?"

"She's a plant bender!" one person yelled.

"And a witch!" another exclaimed.

"No, I'm not a witch!" Cornelia tried to explain. "We call ourselves after our initials! It's not..."

Realizing they wouldn't understand, and seeing how ugly the crowd had gotten, Corny felt the best thing to do was head for the hills!

But as Cornelia hurried away, the crowd surged towards her!

Spying a cart off to the side, Cornelia gestured and the wheeled, wooden buggy lurched into the road, blocking her pursuers who then crashed into it and each other!

Then Cornelia ran and ran until she was far out of sight.

Moments earlier, another special being had entered town, drawn by all the commotion.

At first, she couldn't believe what she felt happening underground.

Roots were moving through the soil at an amazing speed!

Toph had never felt anything like it before!

"What's going on?" asked the blind earth bender.

"We were attacked! First by the Fire Nation, then a witch tried to cast a spell on us!"

"What??" said the incredulous Toph.

"A plant bender!" cried a townsfolk.

"A, a spirit?" said Toph, who had never believed in such things, but couldn't deny her own senses.

"This was no spirit!" replied the townie. "We're lucky we're still alive! If she can bend living things, who's to say she can't bend human flesh, too?"

"Trouble, folks?" inquired a new arrival.

"Who are you?" asked the town official.

"We are the Kyoshi Warriors!" said the leader of the pack.

_Next:  
Irma gets in on the fun!_


	5. Water, Water Everywhere

Chapter 4: Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Think

When Irma Lair woke up next to the dry riverbed, she had no idea where she was.

She brushed it off.

One of the hazards of being a Guardian, she told herself.

Was she concerned?

Yes.

But was she worried?

Nope.

Y'see, our gal Irma had some mad skills.

Especially the survival kind.

"How much for this here?" she asked the fruit peddler.

"That will be two silver pieces, miss." replied the fruit salesman.

"Mmm, how about this watch? Tells the time and can be used as a stopwatch!" offered the smiling Water Guardian.

"A what? Sorry, youngster. No trade for baubles!" denied the fruit peddler.

_It is valuable._ Irma thought, over and over, at the man. _Rare. Unique._

"Hmmm," said the peddler, mulling it over, "I suppose I can be generous today. But I can only let you have two of my wares."

"Make it three and you've got a deal!" agreed Irma.

As Irma bit into the strange fruit, she knew she didn't have many more things to pawn.

But it didn't matter. Something will come up.

It always did.

Her hunger sated, Irma's curiousity finally got the better of her.

"Where is this, anyway?" asked Irma of a passersby. "What's the name of this place?"

"You don't know where you are?" replied the incredulous villager.

"Why I asked!" snapped Irma.

"Why, you're in the Earth Kingdom town of Hi No Wa!" he answered.

_Wonderful,_ thought Irma. _As if Corny doesn't have enough of a swelled head already, now she has a whole kingdom!_

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my conversation with my friend!" snorted the resident. "So, have you heard? There's a water bender in town!"

"Pardon me?" interrupted the ever-annoying Irma. "A water bender? What's that?"

Meanwhile, Katara and her brother, Sokka, struggled to repair the town's reservoir.

"Tell me why we're doing this again?" asked the perturbed Sokka, as he groaned to lift the heavy stones needed to rebuild the reservoir wall. "Unff!"

"Because when the Fire Nation raided the town, they destroyed the reservoir, which is the town's only source of water since the dam was built upstream! Besides, we need the supplies they've offered if we fix it." replied Katara, trying to bend water to the surface to fill the reservoir.

"Okay, _nnh! _" said Sokka, placing another large stone in the wall of the reservoir. "So why don't we just open the dam upstream?"

"Sokka..." said Katara, a polite way of telling him to zip it.

"Yeah, go ahead! Blame me for wanting the easy solution! You don't have to lift humongous rocks!" said the miffed water tribesman.

"That's because I'm the water bender and you're not!" retorted Katara.

"Good job you're doing, too!" zinged Sokka right back at her. "At the rate you're going, it'll only take you a few weeks to fill it!" said Sokka, eyeing the puddles in the bottom of the reservoir.

"The water's deep underground." explained Katara. "If I'm not careful, I could create a sinkhole! Unless you'd _like_ to fall down into another hole?"

"Ulp!" cried the flustered Sokka, remembering the hole he was recently trapped in. "Never mind. You just continue with your water bending, and I'll..."

"Hey!" interjected Irma the Water Guardian. "Are you a water bender? Me, too!" said Irma by way of introduction as she rotated a spray of water over one hand.

"It's great to meet another water bender!" said the smiling Katara. "I'm Katara and this is my brother, Sokka! We're from the South Pole water tribe! What tribe are you from?"

"Um..." replied Irma, trying desperately to think of the right thing to say. "...I'm from the lost tribe."

"Huh?" said the confused Katara. "I've never heard of a lost tribe before!"

With a speed that surprised her, Sokka raced towards Irma and grabbed her arm!

"There's no such thing as a lost tribe!" said the angry Sokka. "The Fire Nation sent you to spy on us, didn't they?"

"Sokka, wait!" cried out his sister.

"Let..go!" demanded Irma.

"Not until I get some answers!" said the stern Sokka. "Who sent you?"

"Sokka..." said the peace-loving Katara.

"No!" Sokka rebuffed his sister. "A water bender from a tribe we've never heard of seeks us out, and you don't find that suspicious?"

His grip was strong. Irma struggled to get free, but to no avail.

Luckily, Irma had other means at her disposal.

_"You don't want to do that!" _Irma thought at Sokka. _"You want to let the girl go! Let the girl go.."_

In a drooling daze, Sokka released Irma. "Let..the..girl..go." he said, in a monotone.

Seeing the mentally impaired condition of her brother, Katara lashed out. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh, nothing much! He'll.." Irma replied.

"Get away from him!" Katara yelled, drawing water from her sack and throwing a line of it against Irma's face.

"Ow!" Irma yelped in pain. "Using water as a whip? Nasty! I'll have to remember that one!"

"Sokka, are you okay?" asked the concerned Katara as she tended to her stricken brother.

"Ohhh. Where am I?" said the recovering Sokka.

"That girl did something to your mind!" replied Katara. "You were right. There is something odd about her!"

"Hey, he started it!" defended Irma.

"Nevertheless..." responded the determined water bender. "I'm tired of always being on the run! Of suffering attack after attack from agents of the Fire Nation! You're going to tell us how you got these powers and what the Fire Nation is planning!"

As the two water tribespeople advanced on Irma, she said "You people are nuts! I don't even know any Fire Nation!"

"You expect us to believe that?" said Sokka. "How dumb do I look? Uh, you don't have to answer that!"

Searching for a way out, Irma called on all the power she could muster.

Sokka and Katara were then drenched in a veritable waterfall.

"What the?" said the _very _surprised Katara, wiping water from her face as she sat sprawled on the ground. "Where did all this water come from?"

"She's a water bender, remember?" replied Sokka, looking around. "The real question is, which way did she go?"

"No, Sokka!" cried Katara. "The water had to come from somewhere! Water benders can't create water out of nothing!"

"I don't know where the water came from! But I think I know where it went!" Sokka said, pointing to the nearly full reservoir.

"Sokka, do you know what this means?" asked Katara.

"We can knock off work early?" snapped the droll Sokka.

"No! Well, yes! But that's not what I'm talking about!" clarified Katara. "It means...she wasn't a water bender, and she was telling the truth when she said she didn't know the Fire Nation!"

"And that means...", continued Katara, "...we've made a big mistake."

_Next:  
Everyone's run into such bad luck!_

_Makes you wonder what's gonna happen to Hay Lin, doesn't it?_


	6. Air She Is

Chapter 5: Air She Is

Hay Lin wasn't sure how long she had walked through the forest, or where she was.

She hadn't encountered any highways or cars. Or people.

Flying up, above the trees, she couldn't see any sign of airplanes or buildings in the distance.

No sign of civilization at all.

Only a few rutted, muddy footpaths through the woods.

Finally, she came upon a town.

From the outside, it looked like the kind of place her grandmother, Yan Lin, had described growing up in in the rural Henan province of China.

Looks, however, can be deceiving.

Since there was no telling who had brought her there or who could be watching, Hay Lin decided it was best to play it safe.

So, before entering town, Hay Lin activated her power.

And turned invisible.

In the town, after touring it for a bit, Hay Lin began to feel silly for taking such a precaution.

Sure, there were banners and statues of beings Hay Lin had never heard of before.

A woman with rice powder on her face and holding a fan.

An older, bearded man of regal bearing.

And a young, bald boy with an arrow on his head.

Which was strange enough.

But the people seemed friendly.

There certainly didn't appear to be any nefarious villains with designs on the Guardians.

Before Hay Lin made the decision to appear visible, though, she saw something troubling.

A young boy, standing on a roof, holding a kite above his head!

What was he going to...?

"Joni! No!" a woman yelled, as the boy took a running leap off the roof.

He was! The silly kid thought he could fly!

And the boy did fly.

For a second.

Then gravity inevitably took hold and dragged him down, spelling certain doom for the young would-be air bender!

But gravity hadn't reckoned on the Air Guardian.

In a dash, Hay Lin flew up (still invisible) and grabbed the boy in mid-fall.

Then she gently lowered him to the ground.

To the amazement of all who watched.

"Mommy! Mommy!" yelled the boy. "Did you see? Huh? I flew! I'm gonna do it again!"

Well, almost all.

"No you will not!" screamed his mother, grabbing him by the ear. "You will march home right now, young man!"

"Surely the spirits of the Avatars have smiled upon us today!" announced one onlooker. "Let us leave an offering for the spirits!"

So saying, the man placed food upon the ground to express his gratitude.

And Hay Lin, whose hunger was almost palpable, couldn't resist digging in.

Why not? She did deserve it, after all!

Which amazed the crowd even more.

As they stared at the food diappearing off the plate, Hay Lin knew she couldn't keep up her ruse any longer.

Not only was it impolite to eat in front of people while they watched, but it was clear these nice people meant her no harm.

So she became visible.

"Uh, hi." Hay Lin meekly squeaked, waving her hand . "Please don't freak out."

"A spirit!" one of the villagers yelled.

"No!" Hay Lin protested. "I'm no spirit! My name's Hay Lin! Um, thank you for the food! I was getting pretty hungry!"

"Well, you're welcome, Hay Lin!" said the man who supplied the food.

"So you're okay with me just...appearing like that?" asked Hay Lin.

"Once, maybe, I would have been shocked. But after recent events..." the man trailed off.

A crowd had gathered to see the 'spirit'.

Including the mayor.

"You honor our humble town with your presence, spirit!" said the mayor.

"Thank you! But I'm no spirit!" said the well-mannered Hay Lin.

"Regardless, thank you for saving the life of that foolish boy!" replied the mayor. "A death like that would have put a real damper on the upcoming festivities!"

"I'm happy to be of service, sir!" said the smiling Guardian of Air.

"How do you like our food? It is our town's specialty!" boasted the mayor.

"It's very good, thank you!" said Hay Lin, pulling at the dough. "It reminds me of something my grandmother once made. But she only made it that one time. I don't know why. What is it?"

"Unfried dough." answered the mayor.

"Ah." said Hay Lin, catching on. "It's, uh, really good unfried dough! The best I've ever had!"

"We are pleased. Your presence here is a good omen for our town's future!" said the mayor.

"What town is this?" inquired Hay Lin.

"It was once known as the town of Chin." replied the mayor. "But now it is called Avatar Town!"

"Um, what's an Avatar?" asked the innocent Hay Lin.

The mayor was aghast.

"You do not know of the Avatar?" said the shocked official.

"No. I'm...new in town." responded Hay Lin.

"Obviously we need more advertising!" said the mildly irked mayor. "I thought everyone knew of the Avatar! He is the embodiment of all four elements! He even saved our town!"

"There have been many Avatars over the years." said one man, pointing to the town's statues. "The current Avatar is a boy called Aang."

"Aang?" said Hay Lin. "Is he the boy with the arrow on his head?"

"Yes. He is an air bender." replied the man.

"An air bender? What's that?" asked the clueless Air Guardian.

"An air bender is one with the element of air!" informed the man. "He can command the wind, fly through the sky..."

"That sounds like me!" revealed Hay Hay. "I can do those things, too!"

Hay Lin took to the air and flew around, happy to be in a place where she could display her special abilities with no fear of endangering her friends or her home life.

She even created a whirlwind in her hand, which then grew into a small gale and gently blew into the town.

"See?" offered the happy Guardian.

Hay Lin thought the people would be pleased that she was like one of their heroes.

But their response puzzled her.

They were speechless.

In complete and total jaw-dropping awe, even!

"What's the matter?" asked the confused Air Guardian. "Was it something I said?"

_Coming up:_

_Taranee!_

_The Fire Nation! _

_Zuko!_

_Iroh!_

_But before that: Phobos!_


	7. Interlude 1: Phobos

Interlude One: Phobos

"How go the preparations, Prince Phobos?" said the man on the throne.

"They go well, my Lord!" answered the Prince of Meridian. "They should be finished soon!"

Oh, how Phobos hated to act the lackey!

But he had no choice! He needed this fool!

"So this plan should go better than the last one?" needled the royal Fire Lord.

"The plan was sound, my Lord! Leak information to the Guardians so they would come running into my trap!" said the Prince.

"And yet...events did not work out that way." pointed out Fire Lord Ozai.

"No." admitted Prince Phobos. "They did not. But we do not need them for our plan to succeed! Surely you have the necessary elementals among your forces and in your prisons?"

"Fire benders, yes." replied the Fire Lord. "And there are earth benders and water benders I can press into service. But no air elemental."

"But that need not prove a stumbling block to our designs, my Lord Ozai." continued the Prince of evil. "Word reaches me that there is one on your world."

"Yes." agreed the Fire Lord. "There is one. I already have my soldiers searching for him."

"Then I shall continue with our plans. By your leave, my Lord!" said Phobos, who then bowed and exited the royal chamber.

Such fawning obsequiousness! How it grated on the Prince!

But then he spied the ring he was building, and his mood immediately lifted.

The ring that will be powered by the hated elementals themselves!

The great ring that will tear open the veil separating their worlds, allowing the Fire Lord's army to attack Meridian!

He had told the Fire Lord that, once his powerful forces were freed from Meridian's prison, he would send them to fight for the Fire Nation, crushing all opposition!

And that was true.

Well, the 'crushing all opposition' part!

Including that fool, Ozai!

What a stroke of luck it was when that portal between Meridian and the Fire Lord's world opened up in his prison cell!

Unfortunately, none of his minions could make the journey, and portal energy was notoriously difficult to control, but no matter.

As he looked upon the workers putting the finishing touches on the Great Ring, and the fire-bending army in the distance practicing the invasion of Meridian, one thought came to Prince Phobos:

Life is indeed good!

_Next:_

_Taranee finds the Fire Nation! _

_(Or rather, they find her!)_

_Plus: Zuko and Iroh!_


	8. Fire and Ice

Chapter 6: Fire and Ice

Taranee didn't quite understand it.

Unless she consciously suppressed it, there was a constant 'fire halo' around either her head or her wings.

Sometimes both.

Maybe because this world was pre-industrial and therefore had less pollution and more plants, raising the level of oxygen in the air?

Or maybe this world had a magical predisposition to fire, for some reason?

Whatever it was, it certainly didn't help her gain any answers.

Most people fled as soon as they saw her coming.

It probably didn't matter, though.

She suspected the rural people she encountered wouldn't have been able to tell her much, anyway.

She just wished she knew where her friend, Will, was.

Taranee tried contacting her telepathically, to no avail.

Will had to be out of range.

And on a world this big, that's saying something!

Finding her was going to be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack!

Flying in standard search patterns could take weeks.

No, _months!_

Taranee needed an edge.

Then, she spied something quite different.

There, on the ground, was a massive engine!

It was the first example of mechanical engineering Taranee had seen.

And if they were smart enough to build that, maybe they would have other answers for her, too!

So Taranee changed course and aimed directly at the engine.

However, before she could get near it, she was fired upon!

The men on the ground were launching fireballs at her!

Fireballs!

At her, the Guardian of Fire!

_Guess they didn't get the memo! _thought Taranee, _I'm the Fire Guardian! _

So Taranee waved her hand and all the oncoming fireballs moved out of her way.

Landing near the men, she saw they all wore some kind of uniform.

_Who are these guys? _Taranee wondered, _Usually people wait till I land before they attack me!_

"Who's in charge here?" demanded the Guardian.

"Stay away from us, Air Demon!" screamed one of the Fire Nation soldiers.

_'Air Demon'?, _thought Taranee. _That's a new one!_

The soldier then promptly spun into position and let loose with a fireball!

Other fire soldiers followed his lead, and Taranee was barraged with a succession of great burning balls of fire!

Taranee, calm as the heart of the sun, stood her ground, and effortlessly absorbed the impact of the numerous fireballs!

But she didn't stay calm.

"Will you cut that out!" cried Taranee. "You're just annoying me! Don't you get it? You're tricks don't work on me! Now, who can answer my questions?"

Taranee's anger caused her fire halo to burn even brighter and hotter, matching the flames in her eyes.

The men regarded Taranee even more warily than the townspeople she had run into on this world.

If that was even possible.

The unfortunate Fire Nation troops had never seen anything like Taranee before!

Most people ran from the mighty troops of the Fire Nation, fire being such a primal fear.

Only one other had ever stood up to them and fought back...

...the Avatar!

But this creature had to be worse.

Because she was like them, but not one of them!

Finally, one spoke.

"Y, you don't belong here, outworlder!" spat out one of the nervous soldiers (the leader?). " Leave!"

"Sure! But before I go..." said Taranee, as she aimed her flame at the huge engine.

_These guys must be the 'Fire Nation' everyone's always accusing me of being! _Taranee reasoned. _And if they're __that__ afraid of them, it must be because they're the bad guys! The type who shoot first and ask questions later!_

As the monstrous engine melted into slag, Taranee once again took to the skies.

_There! _She thought. _That's one less engine they can use to terrorize people!_

As the flaming Taranee shot off like a missile, the earth-bound fire benders stared at each other, wondering what they were going to tell their superiors.

Meanwhile, a duo on the run were taking a break from their recent troubles.

Resting.

Recuperating.

Training.

"Very good, nephew!" Iroh said. "You have learned that defensive move very well! Now, if anyone were to use lightnng against you, you should be able to parry it!"

"Let's try it, Uncle!" said the eager Prince Zuko. "Shoot lightning at me!"

"Are you crazy?" Iroh replied. "Lightning is dangerous!"

Just then, Taranee screamed through the skies, her anger at her situation igniting a fiery trail seen for miles around.

The passing of this human-sized fireball attracted the attention of those down below.

Especially Uncle Iroh.

"Nephew, I just remembered something I have to do." said a somber Iroh, as he saddled up his bird.

"Uncle? You're leaving?" said a puzzled Zuko.

"I'm sorry, Prince Zuko. There are things I must take care of. Alone." said Iroh.

"But, Uncle...!" protested Zuko. "What, what about my training?"

"There is little else I can teach you, nephew." said Iroh, as he climbed into the saddle. "But remember: There will come a time when you will have to decide what path you will take in life. Choose wisely, Prince Zuko!"

And with that, Uncle Iroh rode off on birdback. On a path that led away from the curious fireball.

"You're right, Uncle. I do have to find my own path. And I know just where to start." said Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation, as he looked in the direction taken by the flying fireball.

_Next:_

_Will - Prisoner of the Dai Li!_

_And what happened to the Heart of Candracar?_


	9. Will To Survive

Chapter 7: Will to Survive

Will had no idea how long she had been there.

Imprisoned.

Underground.

In a cage that even stymied her formidable lightning powers.

In a place where her other power, to talk to electrical devices, was of no use.

Because a land with no electricity had, of course, no electrical appliances.

Not only that, but the food tasted funny.

She suspected her captors had put things in the food they gave her.

Things to make her talk.

And that, combined with the loss of her Heart, had made Will sick to her stomach.

No, more than sick.

Will was in bad shape.

_Real _bad!

Body and mind.

But no matter how bad she felt, Will knew she couldn't tell them anything.

Because she couldn't allow the power of Candracar to fall into the hands of such devious men.

No matter what.

"What is your name?"

"Will Vandom."

"Where do you live?"

"Heatherfield."

"Where did you study fire-bending?"

"I attend Class 3A at Sheffield Institute."

At least, not anything important.

"It is always the same!" the frustrated interrogator said to the leader of the Dai Li, Long Feng, out of earshot of Will, as he showed Long his notes. "The firebender will not talk! It is always this nonsense about a 'Heatherfield' and a 'Sheffield Institute'!"

"Perhaps it is the name of the military academy she attended?" offered Long Feng.

"Then why do we have no record of it, sir?" said the exasperated interrogator, who was also Long Feng's longtime aide. "I do not understand! Why do we not send her to Lake Laogai as we do with every enemy of Ba Sing Se?"

"No." rejected Long Feng. "That would erase all of her knowledge. And I need to know all she knows."

"But why, sir?" asked Long Feng's assistant.

"Our agents in the Fire Nation have learned the Fire Lord is forming a secret alliance." revealed Long Feng.

"What? But everyone hates the Fire Lord! Who want ally with such as he??" said the disbelieving aide.

"I do not know." replied Long Feng. "But it weighs upon me."

"Ah! I see! And you think our mysterious captive is involved!" said the interrogator.

"Possibly." said Long Feng. "There is something odd about her. She does not seem like a typical fire bender at all!"

"The report from the constable was that she bended lightning in her hand." said the aide.

"Yes." added Long Feng. "Without releasing it. Very curious."

"Our methods have kept Ba Sing Se safe for many years." continued Long Feng. "But there may come a time when that may not be enough, when we may need something more. She could be the key to our continued survival."

"Go about your other duties." said Long Feng, dismissing his aide. " I will talk to her."

"So, fire bender…", said Long Feng to Will. "You appear to be under some distress. We have physicians. If you cooperate, we can help you."

"I seriously doubt that!" replied Will. "Why don't you let me out of here? I'll show you how sick I am!"

Will put up a brave front, but, realistically, even if she were free, she didn't know how long she could last in a fight. Not in the condition she was in, anyway.

"Ha! You know we can not allow that! Not under the current situation." commented Long Feng. "But, if you were to pledge your loyalty to the Earth Kingdom, its vast riches and much, much more would be at your disposal."

'Sorry." said Will. "Not interested."

"Then I will let you think about it. For however long it takes." said the irked power behind the throne.

"In other words…', elaborated the angry Long Feng, "…You can stay in these catacombs until you rot!"

The earth bending guards then closed the opening in Will's underground prison, and Will was left alone in the dark.

Meanwhile, in the city of Ba Sing Se, the youngster who stole the Heart of Candracar was suffering almost as much as Will.

The boy had never felt this sick before!

Not even in the orphanage!

As if that wasn't enough, the Heart wouldn't let him forget what he had done.

It constantly called out to be returned to its mistress.

The nonstop trilling was driving the boy crazy!

_Nnnnnnhhhh _it sang and sang, in a very high-pitched tone.

Even worse, the boy's Fagin (the criminal ringleader of his gang of urban orphans) was in jail, meaning the child had no way of getting paid for his ill-gotten booty!

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of the noisy jewel.

He told himself it was because he needed to get something for it, like any proper thief.

To do otherwise was stupid.

However, he suspected it held more than monetary value to him.

Which meant he was slowly going insane.

"Hey, what do you have there, youngster?" asked a passersby, upon seeing (and hearing) the Heart of Candracar.

"It's mine!" screeched the boy, hiding the Heart away.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, kid!" pleaded the man. "I'm not going to take it from you! But it is fascinating! A singing jewel? I could do something with that! How much?"

"It's not for sale!" said the boy, who couldn't quite believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Tough negotiator, eh?" said the man. "How about 10 gold pieces?"

"I, uh, 20 gold pieces!" insisted the dirty-faced urchin.

"That's a bit steep!" replied the street hustler. "How about 15?"

"Okay. Fine!" said the boy, holding his sides, as he was wracked with pain. "15!"

"Kid, are you OK?" inquired the man.

"Do you want it or not?" demanded the boy.

"Well, sure!" said the man, reaching into his moneybag. "Uh oh. I only have 12 gold pieces and 3 silver pieces. I can owe you the rest…"

"Look, just take it, alright!" said the boy, the pain driving him to tears as he handed the Heart of Candracar to the Ba Sing Se 'entrepreneur'. "Please!"

"Hey, you got it, kid!" said the man as he took ownership of the Heart of Candracar, happy to score quite the deal on the mean streets of Ba Sing Se.

The place: The crystal catacombs of the old city of Ba Sing Se, where time itself stood still.

The person: Will Vandom, onetime Keeper of the Heart of Candracar, and now, literally, Heartless.

From the claustrophobic confines of her pitch-black prison cell, Will recalled the last time she was stuck down a dark hole.

It was shortly after she became a Guardian of the Veil.

Except, then, she had someone to share the captivity with.

Caleb.

Thinking back on it now, although both of them projected very tough exteriors, it almost seemed as if Caleb liked her.

She'd never thought much about it before (Cornelia had sunk her claws into Caleb as soon as she saw him, after all, and one does not make a play for a friend's boyfriend. If one wishes to keep that friend, that is!). But, there was definitely something there!

Or maybe it was the delirium talking.

"The quiet darkness is very good for thinking, is it not?" said a calm voice.

"Who's there??" asked an anxious Will, who until this moment thought she was all alone.

_Next:_

_Cornelia!_

_The Kyoshi Warriors!_

_Toph!_

_And a surprise guest appearance!_

_(CorneliaxCaleb lovers are gonna hate me!)_

_Here's the title: Earth Girls Are Easy_

Notes

In the W.I.T.C.H. novel, _When Lightning Strikes, _Will says the Heart of Candracar "can't be taken. The Heart can be given and accepted, but if you take it by force, both the taker and the one it is taken from may be destroyed."

When Cornelia tricked Will into letting her 'borrow' the Heart in the Season 1 episode _The Mogriffs _ to pay an impromptu visit to Elyon in Meridian, the magical jewel protests by making a curious sound. Later, that same sound gets Cornelia's attention when the Heart shows her an image of Will.


	10. Earth Girls Are Easy

Chapter 8: Earth Girls Are Easy

The three Kyoshi warriors had tracked Cornelia down in the forest and now steadily advanced on her.

"We have no desire to hurt you." announced Suki, leader of the Kyoshi warriors. "Please come with us and you will not be harmed."

"Back to that crazy town where people think I'm a witch?" Cornelia scoffed. "I don't think so!"

"You can not fight all of us." stated Suki, matter-of-factly.

"The day I let some runaways from a Kabuki theater troupe beat me, with _fans _no less, is the day I hang it up for good!" said the tart-tongued Cornelia. "Oh, and you really ought to watch that face makeup. It'll totally mess up your pores!"

As Cornelia backed up against a tree, the warriors made their move.

Suki aimed her fan at Cornelia while her two compatriots stood behind her, ready to assist.

Then, at Cornelia's silent command, a branch of the tree came down on the back of the third warrior, propelling her into the second.

"Oof!" said the third.

"Hey!" said the second.

Suki, distracted, looked back to see what had happened to her fellow warriors.

Which was all the opening Corny needed.

Vines issued forth from the ground, ensnaring Suki's foot!

Before Suki could bend over and use her fan to free herself, vines from the tree's upper branches snaked down and wrapped tight around her arms!

Her companions, flat on the ground, were similarly immobilized.

The thick vines held them all in a vise-like grip, from which they could gain no leverage to free themselves.

As they struggled, Cornelia took a powder.

Soon, another entered the scene.

Toph.

She was not happy.

To put it mildly.

"You sandal-wearing schmucks!" Toph yelled. "I knew I should have gone after her myself! But no, Aang and Sokka said the Kyoshi warriors are so great blah blah blah!"

"Sokka's talked about me?" asked Suki. "What did he say?"

As Toph ignored her, the three humbled Kyoshi warriors slowly freed themselves, bit by bit, from the multiple vines that entangled them, and talked amongst themselves.

"Hey, It's not our fault!" groused the second warrior. "She's a plant spirit! We're not trained for that!"

"She's no plant spirit!" said the third. "Everyone knows it's a water bending trick! She moved the water in the vines!"

"Hello!" replied the second. "What water? Does this look like a swamp to you, Miss Guru? She created those vines! They weren't there before!"

"A trick of the light! The vines were always there, we just didn't see them!" rationalized the third warrior.

"Uh huh! Right!" scoffed the second warrior. "Then how do you explain that branch whacking you in the back?"

"The falling branch could have been a coincidence!" challenged the third. "And she talked about makeup! Plant spirits wouldn't know about makeup!"

"How can you say that?" argued the second warrior."Perfumes and makeup are made from plants and flowers, so a plant spirit would be expected to know about those things! And her hair! It was the color of a plant! Who else has hair like that?"

"Anyone can dye their hair!" scoffed the third warrior of Kyoshi. "Unff!" she said, as she struggled with a vine.

Suki then leaned over and sliced the vine with her fan.

"Thanks." said the third girl. "But you may have a point about the makeup. And her advice was sound. With this makeup, sometimes I just break out all over! And then do you know what I do?"

"Put on more makeup to cover it up?" offered the second Kyoshi warrior.

"Exactly!" replied the third. "It's crazy!"

"You know what's good for that?" suggested Suki. "Arrowroot."

"Isn't arrowroot more of a body powder?" said the second girl. "What you need is an exfoliant."

Toph, listening to this nonsense, did a slow burn.

Then blew her stack.

"Will you idiots shut up!" yelled Toph. "I'll go talk to the plant spirit. You three will circle around behind her in case she runs again. Oh, and we're not taking her back to that town. We'll take her to Aang. He'll know what to do. Luckily, she's not too far away."

"How do you know that?" asked Suki.

"I can sense her with my feet." said Toph, pointing to her bare tootsies. "Now, come on!"

As they approached the clearing where Toph felt Cornelia was, Toph noticed a sudden change.

"What?" uttered Toph. "She's gone!"

"What do you mean, Toph?" inquired Suki.

"I mean she was in that meadow one moment, and gone the next!" answered the mighty earth bender.

"But how can that be?" said the second Kyoshi warrior.

"I...I don't know." replied Toph.

The three warriors searched the glade.

There were no trees for the plant spirit to sprint up.

Nor was there anything to hide behind.

And Toph could sense nothing underground.

No caverns.

No people.

No moving roots.

Nothing.

All there was, was a pasture where peaceful yaksheep grazed.

"She must have gone back to the spirit world!" said the second Kyoshi fighter.

"I guess she really was a plant spirit!" said the third.

Toph, though, wasn't buying it.

Toph was skeptical of most things she didn't directly experience.

If someone she trusted had described the sun to her (it's a big, burning ball of gas floating in the sky that provides heat and light to our planet), she'd have a hard time believing it.

So, a plant spirit?

Yeah, sure there is!

Except…Toph had earlier felt the roots move underground when the 'plant spirit' created vines in the town. They moved at a pretty good clip, too!

That wasn't a fantasy.

So Toph, though blind, 'looked at' the pasture with all her remaining senses one more time.

She still found nothing.

The plant spirit had vanished!

Her mind boggled.

Not many things impressed Toph.

But this?

A plant spirit!

An actual, real, live spirit of the plant world!

Toph never would have believed it herself.

If she hadn't felt it with her own two feet.

And she just missed meeting her!

Finally, Toph and the three warriors left.

Soon after, from beneath the voluminous coat of one of the yaksheep, a stirring.

And a man's arm reached out.

The rest of him soon followed, holding a special harness that held him securely to the belly of the great beast, hidden under the wool.

"They're gone!" announced the young man. "It's safe to come out!"

Then Cornelia emerged from under the wool of another yaksheep.

"Not the most elegant of escapes!" exclaimed Cornelia. "But I'll take it! Thank you very much!"

"That was terrible, what they tried to do to you! It was my pleasure to help, goddess!" said the tall boy with dark hair, bowing before her.

"Oh, I'm no goddess!" said Cornelia, trying to sound modest (and failing).

"Princess?" offered her rescuer.

"Still not completely accurate, but I'll accept it!" said the smiling Earth Guardian. "And what is your name, my hero?"

"I have a simple name, princess." answered the charmer. "You can call me...Jet."

_Holy guacamole!_

_So the next time we check in on Cornelia, it'll be CorneliaxJet?_

_Will the earth move?_

_(Sure, as soon as the CorneliaxCaleb fans weigh in!)_

_Plenty of action before that happens, though!_

_Apologies for turning the Kyoshi warriors into a comedy act, but I needed to illustrate the different ways the people of the Avatar's world view Cornelia, and I just ran with it from there!_

_Besides, the other two warriors never speak, so maybe they really are this funny._

_Think of them as the flipside to Mai and Ty Lee._

_And Sokka's the one who said the Kyoshi warriors talk about makeup!_

_Blame him!_

_Next:_

_Irma lives it up with her 'water bender' powers, and then…_

_Here's the title: Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls_


	11. Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Chapter 9: Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

_Don't go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to_

_- _tlc, written by Marqueze Etheridge, TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Organized Noize.

As Irma Lair ruminated on her unfortunate encounter with two members of a 'water tribe', she resolved not to let anything like that happen again.

The whole thing was kind of silly, anyway.

Bending? Water _bending_ ? Even Irma knew water doesn't bend! It flows!

And she's a C student!

But if 'water bending' can help her out, why not use it?

And if anyone asked her what 'tribe' she was, she'll say she had a painful breakup with her tribe and doesn't want to talk about it.

Which is kind of true, since she was forcibly separated from her 'Guardian' tribe.

Back in the town of Hi No Wa, Irma looked for work.

She needed some kind of income, after all.

She certainly didn't want to be homeless, or beg on the street!

The local 'jui ba' (bar? pub? tavern? saloon? watering hole? whatever they called it) was looking for a new barmaid.

_"Hmmm," _thought Irma, _"It's worth a shot!"_

"Aren't you a little young to work behind a bar?" asked the proprietor, Mr. Kim.

"Maybe. But I have certain...skills that qualify me." replied the confident Irma.

Although the Water Guardian wasn't sure it would work, she figured there was enough water in the liquor that she could manipulate it.

There was.

(Actually, as shipments from the breweries of Ba Sing Se were...sporadic, to say the least, since the recent conflict began, the drinks were more like water than anyone would care to admit!)

All at once, beer flowed freely from kegs, and wine from bottles.

The alcoholic liquids filled up glass after glass on the bar, astounding the pub owner.

"Y, you're a water bender??" sputtered the bar man. "Why didn't you say so? You're hired!"

"Age isn't an issue?" asked Irma.

"Nah. It's not like I have much choice. My last lady bartender ran off to join a fire nation circus. Don't ask. It's still a little raw." said the dejected bar owner, casting his eyes downward.

"Sure thing. Boss." replied Irma.

It didn't bother Irma that she used her powers to get a job.

Yes, she knew she wasn't supposed to use her Guardian abilities for personal gain, but it was for food and a place to live, on a strange world far from home!

It wasn't to earn money for a shopping spree at the mall!

She was sure the Oracle would understand.

Besides, a bar was a great place to learn what was going on.

Especially since the people here didn't have any telephones.

Or radio.

Or newspapers.

Or...anything to communicate info.

And her friends, if they were on somewhere on this world, well, heck, they were so different, they were bound to stand out!

If they were here, someone would talk about them, and she'd hear about it!

So, every chance she got, Irma asked the customers, travelers and locals both, if they knew of the Guardians.

Not only had no one heard about the Guardians, or the Oracle, or Candracar, but the response she got soon convinced her to stop asking.

When she described Taranee, one of the shocked patrons gasped "A fire bender? Your friend is a fire bender?"

"No, no!" said Irma, remembering how the other two people she met hated the Fire Nation. She quickly thought up an excuse to take the heat off of her. "She's no fire bender! She, uh, does fire tricks! Like in a circus!"

The reaction to Will was no better.

"Your friend sounds like a lightning bender!" said one of the drunks, eyeing Irma warily.

"Lightning bender?" asked Irma. "What's that?"

"A lightning bender is a type of fire bender." whispered one of the more helpful regulars.

"Oh!" said the surprised Irma Lair. "No, she's not a lightning bender! She, ah, is prone to static electricity! Because she walks on a lot of carpets! When the air is dry?"

Satisfied with that answer, the drunk went back to his bottle.

And Irma breathed a sigh of relief.

Irma's other fellow Guardians, Cornelia and Hay Lin, should have been easier to discuss with the Earth Kingdom citizens. However, instead of being curious, they were amused.

"Your friend can bend plants? That's a good one, Irma!" laughed one of the men.

"And your other friend is an air bender? Pu-lease, Irma! If you're going to tell a story, it should at least be believable! Everyone knows there's only one air bender left!" chortled another.

Irma's efforts to educate herself on current events fared about as poorly.

One of the customers mentioned the war, but when Irma inquired about it, she was shot down by her boss.

"This is a sanctuary, Irma. Where people go to forget their troubles." Mr. Kim informed Irma. "We don't talk about the war here. It's bad for business."

"Okay, Mr. Kim." agreed Irma. "You're the boss!"

The clientele of the speakeasy may not have appreciated Irma's topics, but they sure enjoyed the 'show' she put on before closing.

Irma called it the "Dancing Waters". It was a cross between a sanitized 'Coyote Ugly' bar performance and a Las Vegas stage spectacular.

Basically, Irma sang a song she had listened to on the radio back home while multiple streams of water 'danced' to the rhythm. The bar patrons loved it, although they had no idea what music Irma was dancing to (or who Vance Michael Justin was).

Although her stint at the bar was mostly enjoyable (Irma had to break up more than one bar fight by using a 'water whip'), and she was grateful for the stability it provided in a trying time for her, Irma knew she couldn't stay there for long.

If she was going to find her friends, or learn about the world around her, she had to go Out There.

Finally, she felt it was time to go.

She made the decision after she had to deal with a regular who had imbibed too much.

"Afraid I'm going to have to cut you off, there, Wang." said Irma. "You've had too much to drink already!"

"Whut duz a girly like you know, huh?" said the lush. "I've never even see you swallow a drop!"

"Well, where I come from, it's against the law for someone my age to drink alcohol." replied Irma.

"But you can serve it?" said the puzzled Wang.

"Technically, no. But a gal's got to eat!" answered Irma.

"Whudever! Gimme a drink!" demanded the boozer.

Irma tried her 'mind control trick' to dissuade the angry alky, but his brain was so sloshed there was practically no mind left to control!

So Irma changed tactics.

"Okay. I'll give you another drink if you can answer one simple question." said the brassy barista, devising her own sobriety test. "What color is your robe?"

"Ha!" roared the drunk. "Thass easy! Th' same color it always is! Tan!"

"Really?" replied Irma. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm shure! I...wha?" said the man, looking at his robe. "Blue? My robe is blue? Huh. Must have picked up a different robe today. Don't prove nothin'. I'm not drunk! Now gimme another beer!"

"Not so fast!" said Irma, using her power to change the color of clothes. "It looks to me like you may have put on your wife's robe!"

"Whut are you talkin' 'bout? Hic!" burped the smashed villager. "I'm not wearin'...pink? But, but, it was jus' blue! Oohhh, maybe I have had too much to drink!"

"Just go home and sleep it off!" suggested Irma. "It'll be fine in the morning!"

"Great job, Irma!" congratulated her boss, Mr. Kim. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone deal with overserved customers as masterfully as you do!"

"Yeah! That's me! Irma Lair, master of the boozehounds!" mock boasted Irma. "Boss, I've been mulling it over. I think it's time for me to go. You've been great and all, but I just can't stay here when my friends and family and everyone I've ever known are out there somewhere."

"I understand, Irma. You have your tribe to find." replied Mr. Kim.

"Yeah. That's it." said a wistful Irma. "My tribe. So you'll be okay without me?"

"Of course!" said Mr. Kim. "I'll have to increase the hours of the new bartender, but that's not..."

CRASH 

"Oops!" said the new bartender. "Glass slipped! Sorry!"

"...That's...not a problem. You go. And take care of yourself." said the fatherly bar operator.

"Sure. Thanks! For everything, Mr. Kim!" said Irma, as she waved goodbye.

So Irma wandered from Earth town to Earth town, seeking answers.

And when she wasn't doing that, she was a street performer, doing her famous Dancing Waters act for spare change.

Except the Earth Kingdomers (commoners?) didn't much go for the type of fast, loud music Irma did.

Sure, a bar full of drunks loved it (big surprise!), but these were simple people.

Boisterous and bombastic just didn't work that well in separating them from their coinage.

So Irma toned her act down.

Ballads played to a good sized crowd, and country and western had their admirers, but when Irma learned some traditional Earth Kingdom tunes the cash really started to roll in!

And it didn't hurt that the measured cadences of the music helped focus her elemental abilities.

The music was a little slow for Irma's taste, but hey, you go with what works!

She even added 'water sculpture' to the act (water formed in the shape of people and things), which went over big.

Kids especially loved the 'running water dog'!

No matter how 'toned down', though, Irma couldn't resist a little over-the-top theatricality.

"Thank you! Thank you!" exclaimed Irma at the conclusion of her performance. "I'll be here all week!"

Irma reveled in the open use of her powers. She told herself it was for survival and to find her friends, but it was more than that.

She had never felt so free.

No school.

No responsibilities.

No friends, either, which really stunk.

Even so, she rather enjoyed the nomadic life.

However, there were still those who rained on Irma's parade, who questioned her identity.

"Oh, what a wonderful likeness!" exclaimed the villager, admiring the 'water portrait' Irma made of her. "If you could freeze it, I'll take it home with me and show my family!"

"Freeze it? Sorry, no can do, lady." said Irma, who could only freeze water in combination with Hay Lin, she of the icy breath.

"B, but I thought all water benders could make ice?" said the puzzled woman.

"Nope. Guess you heard wrong. Sorry." apologized Irma, who desperately wanted to change the subject and not draw attention to her dubious claims to 'water bending'.

Luckily, the townswoman accepted Irma's explanation and didn't press the issue.

For all of Irma's triumphs as a street entertainer, though, her search for her fellow Guardians did not go nearly as well.

No one had any knowledge of Will, Taranee, Cornelia or Hay Lin.

Or Heatherfield.

Or Meridian.

Or even knew of a 'Heart' of their world.

Irma heard rumors of a group like the Guardians, but upon further investigation, it turned out to be an air bender called Aang, a water bender known as Katara, an earth bender named Toph and a fire bender (a villain!) who was a disgraced prince.

The stories about them seemed rather fanciful, full of spirits and sea monsters and reincarnated beings.

Who the heck knew if they were even true?

There was one time, though, just one time, when Irma overheard something that sounded promising.

It was while she was shopping in the market of an Earth Kingdom village she had never been in before.

"I once saw Avatar Aang on Kyoshi Island!" announced a woman to her friend. "Later, I heard from a neighbor he tamed a sea beast and used it to put out a fire!"

"Ah, big deal! Everyone has Avatar stories!" downplayed her friend. "My cousin is visiting from Kamasi and he said they were attacked by a flying fire demon!"

"You don't really believe that, do you?" scoffed the woman.

"He swears it's true!" continued the man. "She was all aflame, and when she hovered over them, he saw she had skin dark as mahogany!"

"Mom..." asked the woman's son, "...is the fire demon going to get us?"

"Oh, no, no! Don't worry, little one!" said the man, trying to calm the skittish child. "Avatar Aang drove the demon off! She can't hurt you!"

Irma, who had been trying to determine which fruit was freshest, finally processed what she heard.

_"Wait...Flying fire demon...She...dark skin...Could it be? Taranee?"_ thought Irma.

But before Irma could check the story out, reality intruded.

The war between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation came to town.

A group of Earth Kingdom soldiers rolled into the village, the injured carried on a cart pulled by giant...ostriches?

"Is there a doctor in this town?" implored the Earth Kingdom general. "We were ambushed by a Fire Nation squadron! We have injured!"

"Unfortunately, our doctor's visiting the town of Bin Ya today!" announced a townsman.

"We have a water bender, though!" added another.

"You have a water bender?" asked the general. "Where?"

"There she is!" said one, pointing to Irma. "She was bending water in the square all afternoon!"

"Who? Me?" said the confused Water Guardian.

"You! Girl! Are you a water bender, or are you not?" said the general, demanding an answer.

"Uh, yes. I am a water bender. So?" replied Irma.

"I need your aid!" said the general. "My troops were attacked by the Fire Nation! Their wounds are...excessive."

Irma looked at the fallen men, and they were indeed grievously afflicted.

One man even had burns all down the right side of his body!

"B, but what do you want me to do about it?" stammered the clueless Guardian.

"Heal him!" ordered the general.

"How am I supposed to...?" questioned Irma.

"You're a water bender, so lay your hands on him and use water to heal him!" commanded the steely-eyed general.

"Well, okay." complied Irma, who could see the distress in the suffering soldier's face.

"Here goes nothing." said Irma, to herself, as she placed her wet hands upon the soldier's burns.

Reaction was immediate.

"Ahhh!!!" screamed the warrior, in more pain than ever.

"What are you doing??" barked the general. "Are you trying to kill my soldier?"

"No! I, I'm sorry! But I don't know what I'm doing!" cried Irma.

"Get away from him! Lieutenant, tend to the man!" yelled the mad general. "Are you working for the Fire Nation, water bender?"

"No! I swear! Please! I'm sorry!" said Irma, as she ran off. "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey!" exclaimed the general. "Get back here!"

"General..." started the Lieutenant "I think you better look at this!"

"What is it?" asked the general. "Is he dead?"

"That's just it, sir!" replied the Lieutenant "He's fine! His burns are gone!"

"Then why did he howl as if he were dying?" wondered the head of the army.

" I think it was the shock, sir!" explained the officer. "Look! The burned areas weren't just replaced by new skin. They were replaced by a LOT of new skin!"

The army lieutenant then proceeded to pull at the flaps of skin that covered the formerly injured soldier's body, to the amazement of the general.

"So then he's..." began the general.

"Sleeping it off. Yes, sir." finished the lieutenant

"Well, then...move on to the next patient, Lieutenant!" ordered the Earth Kingdom general.

"Yes, sir!" obeyed the army officer.

"Huh..." pondered the general, thinking of the oddest water bender ever, who was now long gone. "Damnedest thing I ever saw."

Irma, in a daze, wandered away from town.

She couldn't believe what had happened.

The Oracle was right!

She used her powers for her own benefit, and she was paying for it!

No, not her.

That poor man!

All because she pretended to be something she wasn't!

Oh, why hadn't she listened and done what she was told?

But no, not her! Not Irma Lair! She had to do things her way!

Well, that had worked out really great, hadn't it?

What did she have left now?

No home.

No friends.

Stuck on a strange world.

And no 'water bending' powers! She couldn't go through that again!

Irma walked through the woods, no particular destination in mind.

Soon, it started to rain.

But so what?

She was the freakin' Guardian of Water!

A little rain couldn't hurt her!

Let it come!

She wasn't sure how long she sloshed through the mud.

When she looked up, she was surprised to find herself back in the town of Hi No Wa.

Not having anywhere else to go, Irma ambled over to the bar she worked at before.

Mr. Kim was cleaning up.

He was shocked to see Irma.

To put it mildly.

Irma was a sight. Soaked to the gills. Clothes caked with mud.

Seeing past her disheveled appearance, Mr. Kim could tell the red eyes and watery streaks on her face were caused by tears, and not the weather.

"Irma!" exclaimed Mr. Kim. "What happened to you?"

"I..." began Irma, as she composed herself. "I need a job. Anything you got. Waitress. Barf clean up. Whatever. But don't ask me to do any 'water bending', because I'm not one! Those (sniff), those were all magic tricks. That wasn't me."

"Well, sure, Irma." consoled the kindly, if slightly confused, Mr. Kim. "Now, why don't you get in here and out of the rain?"

"Thank, thank you, sir." replied the meek Irma, as she entered the bar and turned her back on her old life.

_What a downer!_

_We're gonna need something upbeat after that!_

_Next:_

_Here she is, Miss Avatar!_


	12. Air Apparent

Chapter 10: Air Apparent

"Cheekbones?" said the overly made-up woman as her bony fingers pressed in on Hay Lin's cheeks. "Good. Hair? Not too bad. I can work with it. But those clothes? Horrid! Does your mother know you go out dressed like that?"

"No. But grandma said it was okay." answered the cautious Hay Lin, who wasn't at all sure what she had gotten herself into.

"It'll be some work, but I can do as you request, Mr. Mayor." said the woman known as Madam Wong.

"Excellent! Thank you, Madam Wong! I knew I could count on you!" replied the oily Mayor. "I'll get started on the preparations for our special...Avatar. Heh. Good day."

After the mayor left their presence, Hay Lin spoke up.

"Why does he call me the Avatar? He knows I'm not the Avatar!" she protested.

"Well, of course he does, Hay Lin." assured Madam Wong. "You are merely...representing the Avatar for the festival the Mayor is planning. That is all."

"Oh! So I'm like a spokesmodel? Cool! Wait till I tell Cornelia!" crowed the naive Hay Lin.

"Yes. A 'spokesmodel'." repeated Madam Wong, in an attempt to humor Hay Lin, as she had no idea what a 'spokesmodel' was.

"Now then..." continued the matriarchal woman. "...Let us do something about those clothes! That...attire may be suitable for working in the fields, but not for your present duties."

"Actually, my family's more food service, not food production." corrected Hay Lin.

"Nevertheless, it is my job to make you the finest-looking Avatar, ahem, Avatar representative, ever!"

"And if I do this, be your Avatar 'representative', you'll help me find my friends?" inquired the ever earnest Air Guardian.

"Of course, dear! That was what the Mayor agreed to!" replied Madam Wong, who then opened a chest full of folded, fine silken robes. "Now let us see what we have here..."

"Oh! They're all so beautiful!" said the admiring Hay Lin. "And so retro! Hey! I've got an idea! I've done some fashion design myself! Well, not for pay. It was for a play we put on! So maybe I could design my special Avatar-themed outfit?"

"You stick to air bending, dear!" said the snooty Madam Wong. "Leave the fashion design to the professionals!"

"Hmphh!" uttered the slightly ticked Hay Lin.

Who then tried to fix the sour mood by using humor.

"Well, okay, Madam Wong. I'll do it your way. It shouldn't be too bad! At least you're not binding my feet!" joked Hay Lin.

"Hmmm." said Madam Wong, staring at Hay Lin's dainty tootsies. "No, that shouldn't be necessary. They look to be the right size."

"I was kidding!" said the shocked Hay Lin.

The pair were then interrupted by a man at the door.

"Madam Wong, can I talk to you?" said the man.

"Ah. I must speak to this gentleman regarding upcoming events. Please excuse me, Hay Lin." said the all-business Madam Wong. "In fact, why don't you run along? I'll catch up with you later."

"Thank you, Madam Wong!" said the gracious Hay Lin.

"Oh. And Hay Lin? Enjoy your free time. It may be awhile before you will be able to again." added the straight-talking Madam Wong

"I see. Thank you again, Madam Wong!" said Hay Lin, who, remembering her manners, bowed before exiting.

As Hay Lin walked down the street, she thought how nice the people of the town were.

Oh, sure, the mayor seemed a tad smarmy, but then, he was a politician! That's to be expected!

And Madam Wong was a bit stuffy.

Okay, a LOT stuffy!

But she was a good person.

In fact, all of the people of Avatar Town treated her well!

Best of all, Hay Lin knew she was in absolutely no danger.

No one had ever heard of Phobos or Meridian.

Well, they hadn't heard of Candracar or the Guardians either, but she was assured they were working on it.

There were people with magic and special knowledge on this world. Spirits and the like.

One of them had to know how to get her home!

As Hay Lin continued her trek to see the little ones whom she had promised flying rides, her happiness lifted her off her feet.

And all along the way, people called out to the floating Guardian: Hi, Avatar Hay Lin!

Originally, she had wanted to correct them.

But Hay Lin was told that the people called her Avatar as a form of respect, so she politely let them continue to address her that way.

She merely waved back.

Soon, Hay Lin reached the children.

Or, rather, they reached her.

They mobbed her!

"Hay Lin! Hay Lin! Fly me!"

"No, me!" they screamed, crowding around her.

"Hey! One at a time! Bao, you first!" said the Guardian of Air.

"Yay!" shouted the boy.

As Hay Lin flew him around, she commented "It's too bad I don't have my wings! Then I could fly several of you at once!"

"You, you have wings, Hay Lin?" asked Bao.

"Sometimes. But not now." replied Hay Lin.

"I wish I had wings!" exclaimed Bao.

"Why?" asked Hay Lin.

"Because then I could travel to all four nations!" enthused Bao.

"You don't need wings to do that, Bao." said Hay Lin.

"Really?" asked the boy.

This, then, was the central problem of the Avatar's world.

Air represented freedom.

It was why the Fire Lord attacked the Air Nomads first, 100 years ago, and (almost) wiped them out.

He knew that any real threat to his rule would come from them.

Not for their fighting abilities, but because of the way they inspire people.

The seeming impossibilities that they make possible.

Bereft of the freedom of the air, the people retreated further and further into their fortresses.

They became insular.

Homebound.

Fearful of outsiders and, even worse, fearful of going outside, of expanding their horizons through travel and education.

Without the element of air, the souls of the people were unbalanced and ailing.

The arrival, first of the last air bender, Avatar Aang, and now Hay Lin, was starting to change that.

She lifted the people's spirits as surely as she lifted Bao and the other children off the ground.

Whether they knew it or not, the people of Avatar Town (and indeed, the entire Earth Kingdom) needed that lofty sense the air benders gave them just as surely as their lungs needed air to breathe.

The gracious Hay Lin was only too happy to provide this lofty feeling of freedom.

And the people loved her for it.

An adoring crowd watched as Hay Lin flew all of the children around.

Afterward, one of the youngsters had another request.

Which Hay Lin cheerfully granted.

So Hay Lin took a deep breath and then let loose with an icy cold, gale force wind.

"Look at me!" shouted Chun Li, fan in front of her face. "I'm Avatar Kyoshi fighting the 'dragon wind' of the Northern Dragon! Wheeee!"

"Ha ha!" laughed Hay Lin. "Better stop now, Chun Li! I don't think your parents would like it if I froze you!"

"Aw!" said Chun Li.

"Yes, Hay Lin, you should stop now." announced the killjoy Madam Wong. "Come. There is much to do."

"Right now?" asked the disappointed Hay Lin.

"Yes. Now. You can play with the little ones later, at the festival." said the matronly woman. "You have a rather full schedule. There are your appointments for hair and makeup, then the pedicurist..."

Hay Lin started to leave with Madam Wong, then looked back.

The dejection on the youngster's faces matched the sadness in her own heart.

But it was something she had to do, if she ever wanted to go home.

Surely the kids could understand that.

So Hay Lin turned from the children and walked away with Madam Wong.

"...Then after the meeting with the Greater Kyoshi Area Chamber of Commerce..." continued Madam Wong, ticking off the list, "... there's the appearance before the Council on Earth & Fire Relations, then..."

And Hay Lin wondered if she would ever understand it.

Yes, the people surely loved having Hay Lin around.

Some, maybe too much.

In his office, the Mayor was meeting with an aide.

"Post banners everywhere possible!" ordered the Mayor. "It'll be the biggest celebration ever!"

"What about looking for Hay Lin's friends, or helping her get home?" asked the assistant.

"Yes, yes! But after you do this! Prioritize, man!" demanded the Mayor. "Have you seen all of the boxes of Avatar Aang kites left over from the last Avatar Day? Not to mention the boxes and boxes of Avatar Roku chopsticks and Avatar Kyoshi fans! We need this! We finally have a charismatic, personable avatar! Someone we can sell! Avatar Hay Lin will put our town back on the map! Then, after you hang up all of the posters..."

_Oh no!_

_Poor Hay Lin!_

_Five Lost Girls!_

_Can they find themselves (not to mention each other) before things get worse?_

_The action heats up (literally) in our next cycle of tales!_

_But first: Two Men Wearing Hoods!_


	13. Interlude 2: Two Men Wearing Hoods

Interlude Two: Two Men Wearing Hoods

In a small town on the sandy frontier of the Earth Kingdom, a hooded man warily approached a door.

He furtively looked all around to make sure the coast was clear, then used a secret knock on the entryway.

_Knock Knock_

_KnockKnockKnock_

A narrow hatch in the door slid open, and a man's eyes peered out.

"You know who this is." said the secret knock man waiting outside the door. "The situation has changed. I need safe passage to the Fire Nation."

"Ah. I am afraid you are mistaken, my friend. We are but a simple Pai Sho club." said the man behind the guarded gate.

"I don't have time for games!" said the frantic man wearing the hood.

Meanwhile, at the gate to the city of Ba Sing Se, a line of refugees waited to be admitted.

But first, they had to clear the bureaucratic Department of Immigration.

The guard/DOI agent asked the name of the first man in line.

A hooded man, who responded with a common surname.

Then..

"Okay, Lee. Welcome to the city of Ba Sing Se, City of Dreams, first among nations, the light of learning and freedom the world over, cultural capital of the Earth Kingdom, yaksheep butcher to the world..."

"Is there a question here?" said the impatient hooded man.

"It's the standard greeting for all visitors, pal!" answered the guard. "Required by Code 24.3 of Book 316 of the laws of Ba Sing Se, as interpreted by Regulation 37.2 of the Department of Agriculture."

"Agriculture?" asked the incredulous man wearing the hood.

"They oversee tourism. There was a reorganization." replied the guard.

"Could you please get on with it??" yelled a man near the back of the line.

"Quiet!" shouted the guard. "You'll get your turn! Now then, sir, what is your purpose in visiting Ba Sing Se?"

"I'm here...to seek knowledge." answered the hooded man.

"Ah! I'll put down 'philosopher'. Don't get many of those!" said the guard. "Now if you could please take off your hood and sandals?"

"Sandals?" said the puzzled man wearing the hood.

"The Earth King is very big on hygiene! Never mind." said the weary guard. "Let's get on with it! I still have to check you against my list."

"Oh, Spirits, I can't take this anymore!" screamed the man near the back of the line.

"Hey! I already told you to shut up!" barked the guard. "One more outburst and I'll..."

"I don't care!" shouted the man near the back of the line. "I've been waiting in lines all day! This is my third one!"

"Yeah, well, it'll be your last one!" said the angry guard, picking up his earth club.

In the ensuing melee, the man wearing the hood, who had never taken it off, walked into Ba Sing Se unmolested.

Well, almost.

"Hello, sir!" greeted the tea merchant. "Would you care to try some tea today? It's the finest in Ba Sing Se!"

"No thanks." declined the hooded man. "It's not my thing."

"Not your 'cup of tea'?" said the tea merchant, laughing at his own joke. "Ha ha! Get it?"

"Ohhh!" whined the tea merchant. "Why does no one ever laugh at my jokes?"

_Next: Taranee finds the Library!_

_Can she pass Wan Shi Tong's test?_

_(If only she had remembered to bring her library card!)_


	14. Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

Chapter 11: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

_Tiger, tiger, burning bright_

_In the forests of the night_

_What immortal hand or eye_

_Could frame thy fearful symmetry?_

- William Blake

_Hell is not knowing._

- Various

As Taranee flew over the vast wastes, a few unassailable facts tugged at her mind and wouldn't let go.

She didn't know what was going on.

She didn't know where she was.

Or, most galling, why she was here.

Most importantly, she didn't know where her friend, Will, was.

And for Taranee, not knowing anything was intolerable!

It was this curiosity, this thirst for knowledge, that had fueled her superior grades at Sheffield Institute.

Well, that, and her desire to learn how to defeat all the things she feared.

(Spiders? Yuck! All bugs, really! And...but she digressed).

Then she saw it.

A tower, rising out of the sand in the middle of nowhere!

Taranee felt drawn to this odd sight, this place that should not have been there.

She saw only one way in.

A window.

So Taranee flew into the tower and sailed down its length.

It went on for hundreds of feet.

It was more than a tower.

It was part of a huge complex buried beneath the desert!

And it was more than a typical building - it contained stacks and stacks of books and papers!

It was...a library?

Finally!

Something Taranee could really sink her teeth into!

And give her the answers she sought!

Pulling a book from the stack, she was surprised to see the title: _City Plat of Atlantis._

A joke?

The science fiction section?

Other volumes proved equally puzzling.

One was a collection of _The Complete Scrolls of Aristotle - Book One_.

Another was _The Diary of Hypatia_.

Which really confused Taranee.

_"Am I on Earth?" _she thought.

And then she realized these are books that were lost when the Great Library of Alexandria was destroyed!

(Hypatia was the last 'librarian', although they didn't use that title then.)

"Wow!" Taranee exclaimed, as she thumbed through another volume, a glow of fire illuminating her wings. "This is amazing!"

She saw more interesting manuscripts on the shelf.

_Pinakes _(a catalog of the Alexandrian library).

Plays (the complete works of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus and others).

Books on history, geography, mathematics, geometry, astronomy and medicine from ancient times.

It was all immensely fascinating.

But how did they get here?

Taranee got her answer.

But it wasn't one she ever expected!

"Humans are no longer permitted in my study." intoned a deep voice. "Especially fire benders!"

"Who?" said Taranee, wheeling around to see who had spoken.

The being who stood before her was incredible!

A giant, floating owl!

Taranee wasn't all that surprised, as she's seen many strange creatures in her time as a Guardian.

She immediately defended herself.

"What? Excuse me, but I'm no 'fire bender'! I have nothing to do with those people!" said Taranee.

"Out!" ordered the great owl, who then launched himself at Taranee.

Taranee's wings enabled her to barely escape the owl's huge beak.

"Hey!" yelled Taranee. "Watch it!"

"You want to tangle, beaky!" dared Taranee, holding a ball of fire in her palm while her wings held her aloft. "Bring it on!"

But the great owl didn't attack.

Instead, he stared at Taranee.

The flying Taranee.

Holding (not 'bending' or throwing) fire.

"Perhaps...I have misjudged you, creature." said the Owl Spirit.

"What? Oh, I get it! You've never seen a 'flying' fire bender, before, have you? That's because I'm not one! A fire bender, that is!" replied the self-satisfied Fire Guardian.

"No." said the Owl. "But you are still a creature of fire, and therefore dangerous."

"That's not true! I was defending myself!" exclaimed Taranee. "You attacked me, remember?"

"And yet...you would have jeopardized my library with your fire?" asked the Owl. "Begone, human!"

"This?" said Taranee, extinguishing her flame. "I have perfect control over my powers! Your library wasn't in any danger!"

"Words. Only words." intoned the Great Owl. "Fire benders destroyed a whole wing of my library! Fire brings naught but ruin!"

"You're wrong!" said the stern Taranee, who dared lecture the spirit being before her. "Fire is more than that! Fire was the first knowledge! It brought man out of the darkness!"

"I, I need this place!" pleaded Taranee. "There are so many things I don't understand! You can't kick me out!"

"Hmmm. I suppose I can make an exception. Just this once. As long as you promise to leave after you receive whatever knowledge you seek." said the Owl

"Deal!" agreed Taranee.

"Very well. I am Wan Shi Tong, the Knowledge Spirit, he who knows 10,000 things. This is my library, repository of knowledge."

"All knowledge?" asked the curious Taranee. "Oh, and I'm Taranee Cook, Guardian. Hi."

"If it was ever written down, it is quite possibly in my library, Taranee." replied Wan Shi Tong. "To prove your worth as a scholar, you have to contribute worthwhile knowledge. Have you a scroll for me?"

"A scroll??" said the surprised Taranee. "I'm sorry, but my trip here was rather sudden! I didn't have time to pack a book!"

"Hmphh! Humans!" said the irritated Knowledge Spirit. "If you cannot comply with the rules, then you must leave immediately! Good day!"

"No! Wait!" begged Taranee. "I may not have a book for you, but I learned a lot at Sheffield Institute! Quiz me!"

"This is highly improper! I can't..." began Wan Shi Tong.

"Please!" said Taranee.

Wan Shi Tong noticed the fire of anger, so visible and frightening in Taranee's eyes mere moments ago, had now turned into warm embers of hope, and his heart softened.

"As you wish." complied Wan Shi Tong. "But know this, Taranee Cook: If you answer my question, I will answer yours, to the best of my ability. However, if you fail, I will close the library to man forever and take it from this world!"

Taranee wondered, for a moment, if she could take a chance like that.

So much knowledge, lost for all time!

There could be a cure for a cancer, _if someone wrote it down, _or, who knows what?

"Are these terms acceptable?" asked the Knowledge Spirit.

Taranee hesitated.

"Taranee Cook?" insisted Wan Shi Tong, demanding an answer.

And then Taranee thought of her friend, Will, lost out there somewhere.

"Yes. They're acceptable. Go ahead." replied Taranee.

"What is the key to knowledge?" asked the Knowledge Spirit.

Taranee's mind raced.

Was it a trick question?

And then...Taranee remembered something she saw once.

On a TV show, for goshsakes!

Not that she'd ever admit to watching such a silly show.

Actually, it was a humor clip on a public affairs program. And they were making fun of the speaker.

But it sounded interesting, so she looked it up.

"There are 3 kinds of knowledge." began Taranee, reciting from memory. "There are things we know, things that we know we don't know, and things that we don't know we don't know. Of the three groups, the last is the largest."

"Therefore", concluded Taranee Cook, "understanding the last one is the key to true knowledge."

There was a pause as Wan Shi tong considered what Taranee said.

And Taranee hoped/feared/prayed, rather anxiously, that she had passed the test.

"Very good." the Knowledge Spirit finally said. "You may ask me one question."

At that moment, one of Wan Shi Tong's knowledge seekers, a fox, padded into the room and dropped a document into Wan Shi Tong's grasp.

The Spirit of Knowledge then absorbed the manuscript into his being. It literally vanished into his body!

Which really intrigued Taranee.

"W, what are you?" she said, reflexively.

"Is that your question?" replied Wan Shi Tong.

Taranee panicked.

"No! It isn't! I didn't mean to say that!" denied the Fire Guardian. "Please. There's only one thing I need to know."

"Where is my friend, Will Vandom?" asked the somber Taranee. "Do you know anything that can help me find her?"

Wan Shi Tong, he who knew 10,000 things, considered the question.

His knowledge seekers usually take many documents from the bureaucratic nightmare of Ba Sing Se. The Earth Kingdom capital produced so much paperwork, they never notice when a few papers go missing. Wan Shi Tong usually considered such documents a nuisance, but he couldn't chastise his foxes for it.

Because all knowledge was good.

Especially now, since the foxes' recent haul included certain…prisoner records.

"Go to the catacombs of Ba Sing Se." intoned the Great Knowledge Spirit Owl. "You will find your answer there."

"Catacombs?" asked the worried Taranee. "Why is she there? Is Will in trouble?"

"I already answered your question." replied Wan Shi Tong. "Now leave me."

"Yes. You did." replied the grateful (and relieved) Taranee Cook.

She searched for the right words to express how she felt, as she wasn't sure just what type of creature Wan Shi Tong was. So she tried different languages. "Um, muchas gracias. Danke. Domo arigato. Ah, xie xie."

Finally, she hit on the perfect words.

"Thank you, Wan Shi Tong."

And with that, Taranee Cook, winged Guardian of Fire, rose into the air and left the library.

Then Wan Shi Tong did something one would never expect a Spirit to do.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew 10,000 things, yet even he wasn't sure what Taranee was.

But he had a fair idea what she was capable of.

As Taranee flew through the night sky, a fiery comet on a straight line to the city of Ba Sing Se, one thought burned in her mind:

_"I'm coming, Will!"_

_Great! Taranee's on her way to rescue Will!_

_But will she be in time?_

_Next:_

_It's a hot time in 'ol Ba Sing Se as Taranee battles the earth benders!_

_But is she too late to prevent a disaster?_

_And who the heck is in that cell with Will?_

_Expect fireworks!_

_Lots of 'em!_

_(and not just for the anticipated reason!)_


	15. Will To Live

Chapter 12: Will to Live

"Who's there??" asked an anxious Will Vandom, who until this moment thought she was all alone in the catacomb prison of Ba Sing Se.

"I am Guru Pathik." said the voice in the dark. "I was going to the Eastern Air Temple, but, unfortunately, ended up here."

"A guru?" responded Will. "You mean like a teacher?"

"A teacher, yes. And yet I wind up in a prison cell. It does not make me sound very smart, does it?" replied Guru Pathik. "It would not be so bad if I only had some onion and banana juice."

Will wondered if it was some kind of trick. If he was only placed in here to get her to talk.

Then she decided it didn't matter.

She knew to be careful when talking about herself and the other Guardians.

Besides, she really did want to talk to someone, and he seemed harmless.

A little ditzy, maybe.

"Well, if you're a teacher, then I get an F!" commented Will. "I totally failed!"

"Why do you say that?" asked the Guru.

"It was my job to lead my group, and I messed up!" whined Will. "I split us up, when our main strength has always been as a team, staying together! So stupid!"

"Perhaps you did not fail at all. Perhaps it was meant to happen. Perhaps, just perhaps, things would have been even worse if you did all travel together?" offered Guru Pathik.

"I don't see how things could be any worse than they are now!" scoffed Will. "Although, that does sound like something the Oracle...?" said Will, trailing off.

"Yes?" inquired the curious Guru Pathik.

"You…reminded me of somebody. Never mind. How'd you get here?" asked Will.

"I ran afoul of some angry soldiers. The wrong place at the wrong time. It is the story of my life. Why are you imprisoned?" replied Guru Pathik.

"I…have special powers. But here they're useless!" cried Will.

"These abilities. They are part of you?" asked Pathik.

"Yes." said Will.

"Then do not be so quick to dismiss them. Even if you consider them 'useless', they are still part of your being. And understanding yourself is the first step towards understanding others." lectured Guru Pathik.

"What do you mean?" asked the inquisitive Will Vandom.

"Energy is like a stream. It flows, but is sometimes blocked." said the philosophical Guru.

"What are you talking about??" said the confused Will.

"Excuse me. That is a speech for another. Ahem." replied Pathik, thinking of what he's going to tell Avatar Aang. "Tell me of your plight."

"I was supposed to journey here with another, but we got separated!" lamented Will.

"That happens to many pilgrims." pointed out Pathik.

"No, you don't understand. We're powerful because we're a team! Separated like this, I don't know what to do!" said the Energy Guardian.

"Ah, then, I may be able to help. Separation is an illusion. All things are one, all are connected. The four elements are one." said Guru Pathik, giving Will his worldview.

"Yes, that...is certainly true." Will replied, thinking how she, as energy, represented all of the elements."

"Are you close to your friend?" inquired the Guru.

"We're closer than sisters!" answered Will Vandom.

"Such bonds are not easily broken. If your strength lies in unity, consider how you express that unity, and start there." suggested Pathik.

"I've already thought of that." said Will, remembering how Taranee's telepathy bonded all the Guardians together. "But it's not really my thing, so it didn't work!"

"Try again. But first, clear your mind. Visualize a stream." said the Guru, coaching Will on meditation technique.

_"Why not?" _ thought Will. "Okay." she said.

"You are at the head of the stream. Consider it your lifeforce. All those who are closest to you lie along this stream. Now as you slowly move downstream, who is the next person you encounter?" asked Guru Pathik.

"My, my friend…Taranee!" exclaimed Will.

_"Will? Is that you? Where are you?"_ came the lightning-fast thought, stabbing at Will's brain.

"Taranee? It worked! Oh, thank you!" said the ecstatic Will Vandom.

_"What?"_

_"I wasn't talking to you. Taranee, I'm being held in an underground prison!"_

_"In the catacombs of Ba Sing Se?"_

_"Yes! How did you know?"_

_"A little birdie, I mean, a big bird, told me! Never mind! I'm on my way!"_ thought-cast Taranee, burning a trail through the sky.

_"Make it quick! I lost the Heart, and we need to get it back before it falls into the wrong hands!"_

_"You lost the Heart?? Oh, hold on, I think I see the city! There's a huge wall..."_

_"That's it! But watch out! They have people with Cornelia's powers here!"_

_"They do? How many?"_

_"I don't know!"_

_"Thanks for the heads up, Will! Literally! They're shooting boulders at me!"_

_"Taranee?"_

_"I'm okay. Don't worry. But I've got to take care of this. See you soon!"_

Taranee came in 'hot'!

Her anger at her at this 'shoot first, ask questions later' policy she'd suffered repeatedly, and at Will's unjust imprisonment, caused her halo-like flame to flare up around her wings and her head.

Boulder after boulder flew towards Taranee as the Earth Kingdom soldiers tried to shoot her out of the sky!

It was a massive barrage, testament to the Earth Kingdom's strength.

Little wonder they've been able to fend off the Fire Nation for 100 years!

The sky became full with the rocky projectiles, so many that they threatened to block out the sun!

And they all rained down upon the Fire Guardian.

Which made her even more mad!

Taranee's flying skills were put to the test as she wove through the air. She managed to dodge most of the boulders.

Those she couldn't evade, she used her pinpoint command over flame to obliterate the earthen weapons before she came into contact with them.

In retaliation for this unprovoked attack, Taranee became a heated missile aimed right at the Earth capital's defenses!

Her fireballs scattered the city's earth-bending soldiers, causing them to jump off the wall as they fled to safety!

A messenger ran from the Wall and relayed news of Taranee's assault to another messenger, who relayed it to another deeper in the city, and so on and so on.

Soon, the last messenger collapsed at the door of the headquarters of the Dai Li.

Immediately, Long Feng's aide rushed to his master's side.

"Sir! We're under attack!" yelled the aide.

"What? Does the Fire Nation actually think they can invade the impregnable city of Ba Sing Se? The fools! We'll soon bury them!" vowed Long Feng.

"Sir? It's not the Fire Nation! It's…one flying girl with fire bending powers!" informed the aide.

"How?? Is it an Avatar?" wondered Long Feng.

"I don't think so, sir! I've never heard of an Avatar like this! She's decimating our defenses! We can't stop her!" said the aide, giving his boss the sit rep (situation report) he never thought he'd live long enough to hear.

Long Feng pondered the matter quickly.

He had only one answer.

"Send in the Dai Li!" ordered Long Feng.

"Yes sir!" answered the aide as he scurried off to do his master's bidding.

"You!" shouted Long Feng as he threw open the outer door to Will's prison. "Is this your doing, girl? Is this one of your fire-bending friends, here to help you escape?"

"And what if it is?" taunted Will, the fact that she can make her captor sweat making her feel better.

"Then you've sent your friend to her doom!" shouted Long Feng, aiming his vitriol downward to where Will's cage sat on the cold ground.

"Big words. Better than you have tried!" said Will, acting outwardly tough, but increasingly worried on the inside.

_Taranee! Watch out! _ thought-messaged Will. _They know you're coming! It's a trap!_

_Will? Are you okay? You 'sound' funny._

_I've felt sick ever since the Heart was taken. But I'm still alright. You're the one in danger! You can't allow yourself to get captured!_

_Will, they may know I'm coming, but they can't stop me! _thought Taranee, as she zapped fireballs at the token city guard opposition in front of her. _Don't worry. I've taken the worst they can dish out! They're impressive, but not as powerful as Corny! They..._

Then, on both sides of a hovering Taranee, earth benders moving tons of dirt snuck up on the distracted Guardian and...

...encased her in the twin mounds of earth!

Taranee was buried!

Her flame snuffed out!

_Taranee? Taranee, are you there? _thought-pleaded Will.

"Such is the fate of all who challenge the might of the Earth Kingdom!" gloated Long Feng, upon getting word from his agents that the threat was ended.

"No!!" cried the despairing Will, mustering whatever lightning she could and sending it outside her cell.

It was an impressive feat, and she almost fried the leering Long Feng with a stray bolt.

Almost.

"A noble effort. But futile!" said the victorious Long Feng.

"You monster!" sobbed Will, who never felt more alone.

Long Feng, feeling confident he could break his captive's will, left the outer door open to mock her lack of freedom and then exited the scene.

In another part of the great city of Ba Sing Se, mere moments earlier, the showman who (legally) acquired the Heart from the young boy who stole it previously tried to drum up business for his 'singing jewel', the Heart of Candracar, which sang because it longed to be reunited with its proper mistress, the Guardian of Energy, Will.

"Step right up and see the glorious singing jewel of the far-off, mystical Southern Air Temple!" barked the impresario, making up his own backstory for the pendant. "Only 3 silver pieces!"

A crowd gathered.

Then, when Taranee's 'visit' lit up the sky, the crowd drifted away.

And another saw the Heart for the first time.

A man wearing a hood...Prince Zuko!

Most people, content with themselves or their place in life, would never have recognized the Heart for what it was.

Prince Zuko, however, wasn't most people.

Bending (any form of bending) was a discipline that demanded one know thyself. To be able to bend earth, fire, water, or air, one had to be able to tap into their chi, their very essence. But Prince Zuko had only tapped the surface of his being. He constantly looked outside himself, toward others, for vaildation and a feeling of self-worth.

And now he had found something that would give him everything he wanted.

The external power source known as the Heart of Candracar!

It called to him like nothing in his life ever had before!

"How much to purchase the jewel?" asked the brusque Zuko.

"It's not for sale, stranger!" replied the street hustler. "But if you'd like to see it up close, it's only 3 silver pieces!"

"How much?" demanded Zuko, his hood falling off his face.

"You know, you, you look familiar, stranger! Do I know you?" said the smiling showman, noticing Zuko's scar while trying to calm him down.

"Does this look familiar? asked the stern Prince Zuko, waving one arm and bending a lick of fire while he grabbed the showman with his free hand.

"You're, you're a fire bender? I'll call the city guards if you don't let me go !" warned the worried hawker of unusual goods.

"I think they have other things on their mind at the moment." said Zuko, as the city's police rushed about to deal with the chaos caused by the arrival of Taranee.

Just then, one of Taranee's fireballs plowed through a bent piece of earth and exploded behind Zuko and the street hustler.

Zuko, taking advantage of the cover for his own fire bending activities, let fly a bolt of fire that destroyed the wheels on the showman's cart.

"That could have been your head." stated the cold, yet fiery, Zuko. "Now, how much for the jewel?"

"F, for you? A special price! Only 15 gold pieces!" said the sweaty hawker, caving in but trying to make money on the deal at the same time.

"I'll give you 5." replied Zuko. "Silver pieces."

"What? B, but that's even less than..." started the put out street hustler.

Zuko then reminded the carnival barker who and what he was, and what he could do to the showman.

Zuko showed him more fire.

"Um, (gulp!), you drive a hard bargain, sir! Sold!" said the hustler, who, at his core, was a survivor.

Then, as Zuko paid the man the agreed upon 5 silver pieces, the earth-bending agents of the Dai Li rolled past, pushing the two mounds of dirt they were going to bury Taranee with.

"Help!" screamed the street showman, trying (and failing) to get the attention of the Dai Li. "He's a...urk!" he gasped, as Zuko socked him, snatched the bag containing the jeweled Heart of Candracar the prince just (legally) bought, and ran away.

Moments later, in her prison cell, a young girl sobbed quietly.

Because the girl, one Will Vandom, Guardian of Candracar, had not only lost the powerful Heart of Candracar, which had been entrusted to her care by the Oracle and the Council of Candracar, (which was bad enough), but now she felt something had changed. That the Heart was in even greater danger than before!

But Will couldn't think about that too much.

Because she had also lost her friend, Taranee Cook, the Guardian of Fire, leaving Will all alone on a strange world far from home.

Or so she thought.

_Will?_

_Taranee? You're alive??_

_Sorry for the scare. They tried to bury me under a few tons of dirt, so it took a while to burn out of it._

_YOU'RE ALIVE!!!_

_Ow! But not for long, if you don't stop shouting! They're trying to surround me!_

_Taranee, you have to find the Heart! Something's happened! It's in danger!_

_After I free you, Will! I'm not going to get a better shot at this than right now! If I wait any longer, they'll have the whole city after me! We'll get the Heart once we're together!_

_But…_

_Signing off, Will!_

As Taranee neared the building where Will was held, the sinister Dai Li circled around her.

Taranee created multiple rings of fire to block their attack, but the marksmen of the Dai Li still managed to shoot their earthen shackles through the gaps in the flames.

As Taranee, bound hand and foot, struggled to free herself, the operational leader of the Dai Li agents boasted "You are trapped, fire bender! Unable to summon your flame!"

"You think I need to have my hands free to create fire? With what, sticks? I'm no 'fire bender'! I'm worse!" replied the raging Fire Guardian.

Who then used her Candracar-given might to melt the manacles that confined her.

Thus freed, Taranee created an impenetrable wall of fire around her that disintegrated both the fusillade of earth arrows and the ramparts of soil they sent against her as she flew into the Dai Li's detention facility.

With Taranee facing them on their home turf, (a feat no enemy had ever before accomplished), the Dai Li squad leader attempted to be magnanimous (and save face).

"It appears we have a stalemate, at the moment." said the Dai Li captain. But reinforcements will soon arrive. I suggest you give up now and spare yourself any unnecessary pain."

"Stalemate? Is that what you think? Uh uh!" said the floating, confident Taranee.

"I refuse to play pattycake with you guys, so here's what I'm gonna do: I'm going to create a fireball that'll consume this whole place!" stated the Guardian of Fire.

"If you start now, you should be able to outrun it!" said the cocky Taranee, as her hands made a small ball of fire.

"Well?" warned the determined Guardian. "Better run!"

The sphere of combustible gases in Taranee's hands then grew and grew until it encompassed the whole facility.

Then, as the agents of the Dai Li ran for cover, the expanding fireball razed the entire block!

At that moment, Zuko finally opened the bag to peer at his new possession.

He had been afraid to touch it before.

It radiated power!

So much!

But it was power he needed, and so...

In the Dai Li's prison, Will received a fearsome premonition.

_Taranee? We have to get the Heart...Now! I've got a real bad feeling!_

_I'm almost there, Will! We'll get it! Don't worry!_

_Those guys didn't give you too much trouble?_

_Nah. Not after I 'cleared the deck'!_

_Huh?_

_Never mind. I'm here!_

At the entryway to Will's prison, Taranee, fire in her eyes and in her hand, threatened the lone, conscious earth bending guard left in the jail.

"Free her!" ordered the mad as heck Taranee.

...At the same time, Zuko reached for the Heart of Candracar.

Touched it.

And for only the second time in his life, Prince Zuko burned.

Zuko, who didn't understand the power the pendant contained, unwittingly unleashed it.

The energy of the Heart rapidly expanded outward, covering Zuko from head to foot and driving him into the sky.

Prince Zuko became, in effect, a huge fireball, greater than Taranee's, exploding in the sky over Ba Sing Se.

Back in the prison, as Will was freed from her partially metallic, anti-electrical cage, the transfer of the Heart hit her hard.

"Unh!" gasped Will, slumping to the ground.

"Will!!" screamed her friend, Taranee. "Are you okay??"

"I…" answered Will Vandom, getting to her feet. "Actually, I am feeling better."

"That's good!" said the relieved Taranee Cook.

"No! I don't think it is!" argued the worried Will. "I, I think it means the Heart has passed to someone else!"

"Wait!" said Will, stopping her friend. "There's another prisoner here! He helped me! We have to free him!"

"Will…" answered the confused Taranee. "I don't understand. When I came in, you were the only one here!"

"But..." said the disoriented Will, her eyes adjusting to the pale light from the doorway as she scanned the catacombs for the Guru, but not finding him. Or anyone, for that matter. The only thing she saw were some crystal things lying on the ground.

"Come on!" urged Taranee. "We have to get out of here!"

Outside, the showman, cowering behind his wheelless cart, looked up at the giant fireball overhead as the city was showered with flaming debris.

A livid Long Feng, his headquarters trashed, his Dai Li agents either defeated or scattered to the four winds, confronted Will and Taranee.

"Look what you've done to my city!" he barked, pointing to the mass chaos and panic that ensued when the fireball set Ba Sing Se aflame.

The city had never been attacked like this before! The veneer of civilization crumbled as rioting and looting filled the streets.

Police rushed about to restore order.

As the Candracar-powered flames licked at the city's structures, soldiers were pressed into service as firemen, an occupation they never thought the fireproof city of Ba Sing Se would need.

"You've destroyed it!" yelled Long Feng.

"I didn't do that!" defended Taranee. "I can control my flame!"

Then, from the center of the mushrooming fireball, a man flew out.

A man afire.

The burning man...Prince Zuko!

"That must be him!" exclaimed Will. "The one who..." she began to say 'took the Heart', then stopped so as not to blab to Long Feng. "...who, did all this damage."

"I have to stop him!" said the Energy Guardian.

Will then flew up.

And promptly crashed.

Even though she was no longer sick, Will's ill-fated lightning assault (not to mention her long imprisonment), had drained the last of her strength.

Luckily, there was one who had her back.

"I'll get him!" said Taranee, after making sure Will was all right.

"He's got the Heart." Will whispered to Taranee. "Be careful."

Taranee flew after Zuko and confronted him in the sky.

"Stop!" Taranee yelled. "You have something that doesn't belong to you. It's dangerous! Look at what you've done already! Please!"

Zuko, at first amazed he was flying, then at the fact he was aflame, then at the destruction down below, was further baffled when a flying, fire bending girl appeared before him.

He didn't know what was going on, but he knew one thing.

He couldn't give this power up!

So Prince Zuko held the no longer singing Heart of Candracar before him, and energy issued forth that drove Taranee from the sky.

With the threat to his person gone, Zuko sped away.

And Taranee fell to Earth.

"Taranee!" shouted the concerned Will Vandom, rushing to the side of her friend. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"What? No! I'm fine, but...Whoa!" said Taranee, shaking her head. "It's like my power was super-charged for a second! Never felt anything like that before! Probably because you never zap us with the Heart!"

"What?" asked the puzzled Will. "What are you talking about, Taranee?"

"I, I felt them, Will!" shouted Taranee. "Our friends! They're here, on this world! And I know where they are!"

"That's…that's good, Taranee." said Will, scarcely believing the words that came out of Taranee's mouth, but wishing with all her heart that it was true.

As the flying, flaming Prince Zuko disappeared over the horizon, Will added "I think we're going to need them!"

_Alright! The band's getting back together!_

_Just in time, too!_

_Here's hoping they can survive the new threats they're gonna face!_

_Next:_

_Will and Taranee look for Irma._

_But does Irma want to be found?_

_And what happened to the Guru?_

_All is answered in the gut-wrenching "Waterworks"!_

_Get out your hankies, folks!_

_(But don't use 'em all up! Save a few for the Cornelia chapter!)_

Notes

Irma? Isn't it Cornelia's turn for a chapter?

Irma is closest to Ba Sing Se, Cornelia's closest to the 'front lines' of the war, near the coast of the Earth Kingdom, while Hay Lin is in Avatar Town, which, being in the far southern area of the Earth Kingdom, is equally distant from both the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se and the Fire Nation. It's kind of out of the way.

Besides, there's another reason they find Irma first.

And Cornelia's chapter is kind of special, so you have to wait extra long to read it.


	16. Waterworks

Chapter 13: Waterworks

An old man wearing little more than raggedy old shorts staggered out of the forest and wandered into town.

"What place is this?" asked the elderly gentleman, a twinkle of hope in his eye, when he encountered two men of the village.

"This is the town of Hi No Wa, stranger!" answered one of the villagers. "Finest city hereabouts! As far as I know, anyway!"

"Ah! Very good!" responded the old man. "If you would be so kind, sir, and tell me if there is somewhere I can get onion and banana juice? Oh, and is there a water bender in town?"

"Well, let me think about that, friend." replied the townsman, mulling over what to tell this obvious refugee. "Sure is! In fact, see Irma for both! She works in the bar."

"Thank you, good sir!" said the elderly man, not quite believing his luck.

And off he went.

"Why'd you tell him that, Zhao?" asked his friend, after the old man walked out of earshot. "Irma decked the last guy to ask her about water bending!"

Zhao only smiled.

"Oh, I get it now!" said Zhao's companion, laughing at the mean-spirited joke.

"Serves Irma right!" said Zhao. "She cut me off way too early last time I was in there!"

Meanwhile, a winged duo approached Hi No Wa from a different direction.

Unnoticed, they landed on the edge of the forest.

Taranee, the Guardian of Fire, concentrated and the flame 'halo' around her head and wings retreated into her body.

Ever since she had been hit by the power of the Heart of Candracar wielded by that strange man, she had better control over her powers.

Which was good.

Because it meant she wouldn't scare people wherever she went.

And people might actually (gasp!) _talk_ to her!

Also, her friend, Will Vandom, the Guardian of Energy, appeared to have fully recovered from both her imprisonment and from having the Heart of Candracar forcibly taken from her.

Which was better.

The blast from the Heart had even momentarily boosted her telepathy, putting Taranee into a split second of contact with her fellow Guardians Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin.

Which was best of all!

If they had to fight this new player to get the Heart back, and defeat Phobos, they're going to need the whole team together!

So Taranee and Will had come to the place where Taranee knew Irma was.

But...

"Still no luck?" asked Will.

"No!" exclaimed the exasperated Taranee, trying again, in vain, to thought-connect with Irma. "I can't 'hear' Irma telepathically. It's like there's something blocking me!"

"Maybe she left town in the time it took to get here?" suggested Will. "Let's ask someone if they know where she is."

Around that time, in the bar of Hi No Wa, a young girl was having quite the day.

"Irma! Clean up at Table 2!" barked her boss.

"Irma! This drink is shaken, but it's not stirred!" complained a customer.

"Irma! Over here! We're ready to order!"

"Irma!"

"Irma!"

Soon (none too soon for Irma!), the madness died down.

Sometimes, Irma wondered what she had done to deserve this cruel fate!

Then, she remembered.

Irma remembered the man she had hurt.

And figured she didn't have it so bad, after all.

There were times, sure, when she thought about her old life.

Once, Irma even had a brief flash of Taranee.

But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

She chalked it up to homesickness.

She told herself she couldn't think about that stuff anymore.

It would just depress her.

So she went back to her job as a waitress.

And then _he_ showed up.

An older man walked in, bellied up to the counter, and plopped down into a seat.

"Excuse me?" said the man. "Do you have onion and banana juice?"

"Don't get much call for that." replied the frazzled Irma Lair. "Do you mean banana and onion juice?"

"No, it must be onion and banana juice!" corrected the old man. "Very different!"

"I'll see what we can do." said the tired Irma, retreating back into the kitchen.

"Thank you!" said the wizened sage, who then turned to his neighbor at the bar. "Excuse me? Do you know anyone traveling to the east? I am in need of a ride. It is very important I get to the Eastern Air Temple!"

But his barmate couldn't help him.

He asked others in the bar, but no luck.

Finally, Irma returned with his drink.

"Here you go, pal!" said the skilled barmaid. "You're lucky I know a thing or two about smoothies!"

"Thank you very much!" said the old man, who didn't know what Irma was referring to, but didn't care, either.

He then sipped the drink.

"Ah! Very good!" exclaimed the happy monk. "I can tell my luck is changing already!"

"Perhaps you can help me with another matter, Miss." said the ancient teacher. "I am Guru..."

"I don't need your life story, buddy!" stated the stressed-out Irma. "I'm only here to serve the customers!"

"Very sorry if I committed any offense!" responded the Guru. "But I was told you knew of a water bender?"

_Water Bender!_

The very term raised the hackles on Irma's spine!

She struggled to contain her rage.

(The man who said it was of rather advanced years, after all).

"Nope! Sorry! No water benders here!" said Irma.

"I see. Most unfortunate." replied the Guru.

On the other side of town, Will and Taranee found someone willing to answer their questions.

A man Irma had once sent packing from the bar in a pink robe.

Wang.

"Pardon me, sir." began Will. "We're looking for our friend, Irma."

"Oh?" said Wang, his ears perking up at the mention of Irma's name.

"A girl about our age? Brown hair?" added Will.

"I..." started Wang, who was cut short by Taranee.

"Maybe you know her as a, what's the term? Water bender?" said the Fire Guardian.

Wang carefully considered the question.

Irma had kicked him out of the bar, true.

And because of that, Wang arrived home in time to deal with a family emergency.

His son had fallen sick, and that had sobered him up pretty quickly.

It was problems at home that had caused him to spend so much time at the bar in the first place, and strained relations with his wife.

After the emergency was over, however, his wife was very grateful he was there.

And, when she finally noticed the pink robe he wore, thinking he had borrowed hers, she became rather...playful.

Because of Irma, he stopped overindulging in drink (oh, he still had the occasional beer, but he didn't overdo it) and spent more time with his family.

Irma, simply put, had saved his marriage!

So, Wang owed Irma!

He owed her big time!

He wasn't about to let her down.

Irma had told everyone she wasn't a water bender, and didn't want to talk about it ever again.

Wang agreed to this.

He didn't understand it, since she was such a water bending expert. The best he had ever known, anyway!

But Irma must have had her reasons.

Wang figured Irma must be on the run. In hiding.

And certainly didn't want anyone to find her!

Especially two strange girls wearing weird clothes.

(And what was that on their backs? Some form of...wings? Bizarre!)

"Yes, there was a water bender named Irma who stayed here. But she's gone now. Sorry." said the sincere-sounding Wang.

"Darn! We must have just missed her, Taranee!" said the dejected Will.

"Do you know which way Irma went, sir?" asked Taranee.

In the bar, Irma did a slow burn.

The old geezer wouldn't stop with his 'water bender' garbage!

"I was so looking forward to meeting a water bender, especially after recent events! Sigh!" said the Guru. "and that nice gentleman said I could find one here, too!"

Many of the regulars stared at Irma, wondering what she would do next.

She had forbidden all talk of water bending in the bar.

It was a sore subject, for some reason.

But they didn't press her on it. They had seen what happened to those who did. It wasn't pretty.

Not that Irma beat people up.

Actually, people who crossed Irma had a way of beating _themselves _up!

They didn't know why. Nor did they want to ask.

And now here was this guy, bringing the whole sorry thing up!

Finally, Irma took the bait.

"Why do you want a water bender, old man?" inquired the sarcastic Irma. "Have a touch of bursitis you need magically healed?"

"Mercy me! No, I would not ask that. Although my lumbago has been acting up." answered the Guru.

"Well, I'm not a water bender, okay, so get that through your thick skull!" said the peeved Irma, saying too much.

"Oh, so it is you the gentleman was speaking of?" said the old monk. "Yes, I can tell your chi is strong!"

"Look, pal, I'm not going to say this again!" demanded Irma. "No water bender here. End of discussion! Drop it!"

"But how can you say that? You cannot deny your own nature!" said the philosophical Guru.

Irma was almost on her last nerve at this line of questioning.

"You want to know why I'm not a water bender, old man? Huh? I'll tell you!" yelled Irma.

"Because...because I never asked for that kind of power! It, it was given to me, but I didn't deserve it!" revealed the emotional Irma, who strained to keep it together, so she wouldn't break down crying.

"Pardon me for prying, Miss, but that makes no sense!" said the Guru, who didn't know when to shut up. "Those who bend water do so because they are one with themselves and nature. The fact that they can do it at all means they do deserve it."

"Haven't you been listening??" said Irma, blowing her top. "I'm not a water bender! I never was!! I'm Irma Lair, Guardian of the Veil, and water is my element! I'm the **Water Guardian!!**"

Suddenly, the bar filled with water!

Water rained down from the rafters!

It was everywhere!

There was so much water, it even gushed out of the chimney!

When the rainstorm ended, everyone in the bar was drenched with water.

And they all stared at Irma.

Well, except for the old man.

"Ah. Very good! Now I can fill up my wineskin." said the aged Guru, holding out his wineskin to collect the water. "Bent water is best for growing onions and bananas, you know."

But Irma wasn't listening to the ancient monk.

She was listening to what the other denizens of the bar were saying about her.

Some wondered where the water came from.

Others whispered that she couldn't be a water bender.

And a few looked at her with fear in their eyes, not knowing what to make of her.

"May I have more onion and banana juice, please?" asked the clueless Guru Pathik.

"Irma?" asked her boss, Mr. Kim.

Irma couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry!" said Irma, who ran out of the bar.

Irma ran, but not very far.

Where would she go?

The bar was the closest thing to a home she had, and now she had even lost that!

_Great! _thought Irma. _Now they think I'm a liar! And a freak! How can I face them? Where can I go now?_

It was the lowest point in Irma's admittedly short life.

And then...

"Irma! It's you!" screamed Will, pure joy pouring out in every syllable she uttered.

"Will? T, Taranee?" replied Irma. "Wow! It's...wow."

"I'm so happy to see you guys!" said Irma, hugging her friends.

"It's great to see you, too, Irma!" said Taranee.

"I was beginning to think I'd never see you again!" said Irma.

"We'd never let you off that easy, Irma!" joked Will.

"Hey, once a Guardian, always a Guardian!" said Taranee.

"Yeah!" added Will. "Talk about timing! We were about to leave! It's a good thing we saw your waterspout!" said Will, referring to the spray of water that came out of the bar's chimney and splashed onto the town. "Nice use of your calling card, Irms!"

"Huh?" said the confused Irma. "Then that guy…"

"What guy, Irma?" asked Will.

"I, I didn't want to do it, but he made me!" said Irma, on the verge of a breakthrough. "He made me be...me. If he hadn't…"

Then it hit her.

And Irma realized how close she came to losing everything she ever cared about.

It smacked her with the force of a speeding truck.

"Irma?" asked the concerned Taranee. "Is everything alright? Are you crying?"

"I'm, I'm not crying! I just…got some water in my eye." said Irma, dabbing her eye. "It's (sniff), it's an occupational hazard. Kind of happens a lot to us Water Guardians!"

Then Irma's feet gave way, and she found she could no longer stand.

As she collapsed in Will and Taranee's arms, they were only too happy to bear the weight of their once lost, now found, friend.

Turning, for the moment, from this tender, private scene, let us consider the fate of the other player in this drama.

The most unlikely hero of all, Guru Pathik.

Whatever became of him?

Well, Pathik's journey wasn't quite yet done.

He met a man outside the bar who offered him a ride east, and the Guru accepted.

"We have room for one more now, stranger, so you're welcome to join us as far east as we're going!" said the Zhang leader.

"I thank you greatly, sir!" said Guru Pathik. "Yes, my luck has indeed changed for the better!"

"Ours, too!" said the Zhang leader, loading a ruff rhino with supplies. "Can you believe we just found this domesticated rhino wandering around the forest?"

"That is indeed...good luck. Yes." replied the Guru, who had...experience with the rhino.

"Yes! Great! Another beast to feed!" complained the Gan jin leader.

"Pay him no mind, stranger! He's always like that!" said the Zhang leader.

"You are...traveling together, but do not get along?" asked the Guru. "Then perhaps I can help! There is a story..."

"Already heard it, mister!" commented the Zhang leader. "We used to have problems, but then we met the Avatar, and he set us straight! We're leaving now, so hop on board!"

"You met the Avatar?" said the surprised Guru Pathik, climbing onto the rhino. "What a coincidence! I am journeying to see him!"

"Small world." replied the Zhang leader, helping his people onto the back of the rhino. "We're kind of pressed for space, so we're going to have to double up!"

"Here!" said the Zhang leader, handing a toddler in diapers to Guru Pathik. "Is that okay?"

"Oh my, yes!" answered Pathik, taking hold of the child. Then he noticed the baby was...leaking. "Oh, my."

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" said the bitchy Gan jin leader, as the group of travelers rode off.

The forest, sometime later.

And three Guardians made a shocking discovery.

Nailed to various trees in the forest were wanted posters.

One read: Wanted For Crimes Against The Fire Nation - Jet, and included a drawing of a young man.

But that wasn't the shocker.

Irma found it, attached to another tree.

A poster that said: Wanted For Crimes Against The Fire Nation - Plant Spirit.

And it had a picture of Cornelia on it!

Even though it was in black and white, the likeness was unmistakable!

"Guys! Guys!" yelled Irma, pointing at the wanted poster. "Look at this! We're not the only ones searching for Cornelia!"

"And something tells me we better find her before the Fire Nation does!" added the Guardian of Water.

_How about that Guru, eh?_

_He should be called VISA - he's everywhere he needs to be! Well, almost!_

_Wait a minute, I hear you say, how did he beat Will & Taranee there?_

_They can fly, for chrissakes!_

_But that's a story for another time (and includes the rhino)._

_Don't you want to know what's_

_Coming up:_

_One of the most amazing Cornelia tales ever _

_as we find out what she's been doing with Jet!_

_But first: Azula!_

_(As for the guru, don't worry about him!_

_His misadventures are over._

_He's got a date with destiny, and I'm sure he'll arrive in time!_

_And none the worse for wear! Honest!_

_Although he may want to take a bath first!)_


	17. Interlude 3: Azula

Interlude Three: Azula, Mai and Ty Lee

The great metal beast roared through the countryside.

Riding on the tank - an annoyed Princess Azula, a bored Mai and a restless Ty Lee, who fidgeted with her hair.

"Still no sign of that air bender!" hissed Azula. "Zuzu and Uncle have disappeared, also!"

"That water bender with him is probably wetting down the sky bison's fur so he doesn't shed." pointed out Mai. "But you're on your own with your family."

"Now what do we do, Azula? Can we go back to the Fire Nation?" asked the hopeful Ty Lee.

"No, we're not going back!" exclaimed the terse Princess Azula. "We still have our mission to complete - capture the Avatar and bring my traitorous brother and uncle back to my father, the Fire Lord!"

Just then, they pass trees with black and white "Wanted" posters for Cornelia and Jet nailed to them.

WANTED: FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE FIRE NATION

JET

WANTED: FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE FIRE NATION

PLANT SPIRIT

Each poster included an artist's rendering of the wanted felon.

"Oh! I know what we can do!" said the excited Ty Lee, who hung from the tank and grabbed a wanted poster of Cornelia. "Why don't we capture her? A real live spirit? That ought to satisfy your dad!"

"Nice try, Ty, but I don't think so!" said Azula, through gritted teeth. "First of all, it's not our job to chase after every criminal out there! Second of all, and most importantly, there is no such thing as a plant spirit! It's a myth! A lie told by a pack of mangy rebels to gain the peoples' support, and perpetuated by incompetent Fire Nation soldiers to cover up their failures!"

"Okay, okay!" replied Ty. "I was just making a suggestion!"

"The whole thing is ridiculous!" continued the ranting Princess Azula. "They expect people to buy their 'plant spirit' story because some girl gets a dye job? Even if a plant spirit did exist, it wouldn't look like a human girl with odd-colored hair, and it certainly wouldn't be a so-called 'freedom fighter'!

"I think she's pretty!" said Ty Lee, looking at the wanted poster of Cornelia she held in her hand. "The people in that town we visited said she has dandelion hair! How do you think I'd look with dandelion hair, Mai?"

"Like a weed." answered the droll Mai.

"Sputtt!" responded Ty Lee, giving Mai a raspberry and making a face at her.

_Children, _thought Princess Azula, _I have to do this with children! Fire Lord, give me strength!_

Suddenly, the distracted Azula was whapped in the face with a wind-driven poster.

She angrily ripped it off!

Azula was about to toss it away, but then her eyes alighted on the subject of the poster.

It wasn't a wanted poster at all.

Well, actually it was a wanted poster of another kind. Advertising.

Advertising inviting all to meet the new air bender, Avatar Hay Lin, at the Avatar Town Festival.

Azula was confused.

The others with Azula, the girls and a few Fire Nation troops, anxiously wondered how Azula would react to this latest affront to her person.

Would she blow up and destroy some trees on the side of the road?

Or 'discipline' the driver for allowing the errant paper to hit her?

(Actually, Mai wasn't wondering any of this. She really didn't care.)

Then Azula softened.

A rare smile crept across her face.

(Which made Ty Lee even more nervous).

"Girls..." announced Princess Azula, "There's been a change of plan! We're going to a festival!"

"Yay!" cheered a smiling Ty Lee, who then realized it had to be part of some sinister plot of Azula's and had a change of heart. "I think."

_Next:_

_Cornelia and Jet, the Bonnie & Clyde of the Avatar world!_

_(CorneliaxCaleb lovers, please don't hate me! Read the chapter first!)_

_It's a special story, hence the title:_

_The Special Properties of Dirt_

_You just know it's going to end badly, don't you?_


	18. The Special Properties of Dirt

Chapter 14: The Special Properties of Dirt

(The Secret Lives of Plants)

_A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty._

- Matthew 13:3-8

_Plants ain't people._

- Anonymous

_Bad boys, bad boys, whatchu gonna do?_

_Whutchu gonna do when they come for you?_

The Fire Nation army's troop transport moved with a purpose through the dark forest of the Fire Nation-occupied Earth Kingdom territories.

The soldiers escorting it darted their eyes to and fro, scanning the trees for any signs of movement.

Because it wasn't just any troop transport - it was really a troop transport converted into a prisoner transport carriage!

They didn't expect any trouble, but were cautious all the same.

They knew strange things happened in the woods!

The padlock on the prisoners' door was unbreakable, and only the captain of the guard at the prisoner loading point, and the warden receiving the prisoners at the other end, had the combination.

As such, security was tightest at those two points.

The giant birds pulling the makeshift prison on wheels were the first to notice something amiss.

They squawked.

Then, from out of the trees, a man dropped down!

A man (actually an older boy) who used Twin Tiger-Head Hook Swords as his weapon.

Jet!

He jumped onto the Fire Nation soldiers at the front of the transport and took them out quickly!

Then, before the soldiers at the rear of the convoy could react, Jet hopped up, hooked his swords around a branch, and launched himself at those selfsame troopers before they could get off a single bolt of fire!

There was only one guard contingent left: the Fire Nation soldiers driving the vehicle.

Jet leaped, and avoided their heat blasts!

He then somersaulted over their heads and landed on the back of a giant bird, facing the guards!

He blocked their point blank fire bolts with his twin swords, but the heat was so great he had to drop the blades so his hands wouldn't get burned to a crisp!

He had one chance left - to get up close and personal with the soldiers!

Jet jumped right at the two troopers and threw one off of the carriage!

But the other was able to grab Jet!

They struggled!

The Fire Nation warrior forced Jet back!

Jet had no leverage!

He was either going to be forced off the speeding vehicle, and possibly run over, or the Fire Nation soldier getting in his face was going to burn it off!

The trooper laughed!

No one had ever succeeded in getting the best of the infamous rebel, Jet, and now he was at the soldier's mercy!

(Not that he had any. Mercy, that is.)

Then, a head peered over the top of the prisoner carriage.

A head of blonde hair.

Cornelia!

"Need some help, Jet?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

The trooper looked up, fear in his eyes. "P, Plant Spirit?" he squeaked.

The next thing he knew, the soldier's world went dark!

Cornelia had telekinetically rotated his helmet around his head, totally blocking his sight!

She made it stay that way, too! It was stuck to his head!

As the guard tried in vain to remove his helmet, Jet kicked him off the vehicle.

Jet then plopped down into the driver's seat and took the reins, directing the birds onto a different path, with Cornelia occupying the passenger seat.

"Good work!" Jet praised Corny. "You've got a real knack for this stuff! You improvise. You don't let anything rattle you. Heh. You act like you've done this before!"

"You could say that." said the coy Cornelia, beaming from the compliment, as she remembered all the times she helped Caleb and the rebels in Meridian fight Phobos.

"So you didn't have any trouble picking the lock?" asked Jet.

"Nope! I told you it'd be no problem for me!" said Cornelia, recalling how easy it was for her telekinesis to snap the lock open. "I got the prisoners out while you were doing your jumping Jet thing to distract the guards, and Long Shot and Smellerbee spirited them away into the woods! Just like we planned!"

"Amazing! Are there any wonders you can't perform, my plant princess?" gushed Jet.

"Oh, this is nothing! At full power, I can even fly!" replied the boastful Cornelia Hale.

"Now you're teasing me!" said the smiling Jet. "How could a plant spirit fly, anyway? It makes no sense!"

"With wings! How else? I'm serious! Well, okay. Maybe I am teasing you. Just a little." said the flirtatious Cornelia, holding her fingers slightly apart. "I'm really not that good a flier!"

"Ha! All right, then!" announced Jet. "We'll steer these birds far away from us, and lead the Fire Nation on a wild goose chase! Then we'll go meet the others! Hi-yaa!" he said, snapping the reins.

Later, in their camp in the treetops, Cornelia relaxed and tried to get to know her fellow rebel.

"So", said Cornelia, making conversation. "How long have you and Long Shot been an item?"

"What are you talking about?" answered the defensive Smellerbee. "We're freedom fighters! That's it!"

"Oh, come on!" said the playful Corny. "I've seen the way you look at him! A boy might take years to notice such a thing, but another girl sees it right away!"

"Well, but, I..." stammered Smellerbee.

"Oh! You haven't told him yet, have you? Well, you're in luck! I think I can help you out!" offered Cornelia.

"How?" asked the skeptical Smellerbee.

"You've got that whole 'tough girl' thing going! Grrr! 'I'm tough! Don't mess with me!' " said Corny, holding her hands up like claws. "I totally get that! You've lived through some hard times, and had to be tough to survive! But you can't be the tough girl around boys all the time. It confuses them! So, occasionally you have to drop the tough and emphasize the girl."

"But how do I do that?" wondered the tomboy called Smellerbee.

"Allow me to demonstrate. Watch and learn." replied the all-knowing Earth Guardian who, because she had used her power to age herself when she first arrived on the Avatar's world, appeared a few years older (and wiser) than she really was.

"Oh no!" mock exclaimed Cornelia, holding an empty bowl. "We're all out of leechie nuts! Oh, how I wish we had more leechie nuts!"

Jet, lurking on a tree branch above the two girls, heard her plea.

And immediately leapt into action!

He jumped up, then let fly his double swords at the leechie nuts growing on the upper branches of a neighboring tree.

Thus severed, the nuts fell onto their campsite.

Jet somersaulted, landed on his feet, caught his swords, then used them to split the nuts open, sending the kernels flying into Cornelia's bowl.

"Here you go, princess!" said the eager to please Jet.

"Oh! Thank you very much, Jet!" said the grateful Cornelia. "You're so sweet!"

"See how it works?" said Cornelia to Smellerbee, grabbing a few nuts from the bowl at the same time. "Now why don't you try?"

Smellerbee nervously looked down at the leechie nut bowl, then glanced over at Long Shot.

"Oh no!" began Smellerbee. "I'm all out of..."

Then she was cut off by Cornelia.

"No! Don't do the same thing I did!" pointed out Cornelia. "Use something you both share, something you have in common."

"Like what?" wondered Smellerbee. "War paint? No, that won't work."

Then she saw her empty quiver.

"I've got it!" said Smellerbee to Cornelia.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Smellerbee, making a quick, furtive glance in Long Shot's direction. "I'm all out of arrows! Oh, how I wish I had more arrows!"

Long Shot pondered the request.

He wasn't sure how to respond.

He felt he should do something, but the thoughts and feelings that came bubbling up from inside him were strange and new. It clouded his mind.

So he reached into his own quiver, pulled out an arrow, nocked it against the bow, then proceeded to pull it slowly back and...

Cornelia saw what was going on and became quite alarmed.

Long Shot was going to shoot the arrow to Smellerbee!

She could see things going very wrong, very easily.

An arrow through a body part could really put a damper on any emerging feelings of love!

Only Cupid is allowed to fire arrows of amour, after all!

"No! Wait!" yelled Cornelia, quickly running in front of Smellerbee. "There's some arrows right over here, Smellerbee! We don't need any, Long Shot! Thanks, anyway!"

"But..." started the disappointed Smellerbee.

"Sigh. Don't worry, sweetie!" consoled Cornelia. "True love always finds a way!"

"You really think so?" asked the hopeful Smellerbee.

"Of course!" said the worldly wise Corny, lying through her teeth. "I'm sure the two of you will work it out. Someday. Maybe in a few years. But you're young! You have plenty of time!"

"Gee, thanks!" said the sarcastic Smellerbee.

"Don't mention it!" replied Cornelia, smiling to mask her failure, and resolving not to play the matchmaking game again any time soon.

"Okay, people!" announced Jet. "Listen up! The heat's off, so we're going to return the prisoners to their families! Get ready to move out!"

After returning the freed prisoners to their loved ones, Jet, Cornelia, Smellerbee and Long Shot visited the office of the leader of the town's council, Mr. Choi.

The office included a desk, and on the desk sat some papers and a money box.

"Thank you for returning our people!" said Mr. Choi. "When we couldn't pay the tribute they demanded of our harvest, they took our sons and daughters instead!"

"You're welcome, sir!" said Cornelia. "We're always happy to help!"

"Ah, yes." replied the council leader. "If you could aid us with another problem, Plant Spirit? It's about our crops." he said, cautiously, knowing one had to be very careful when asking a favor of those from the Spirit World so as not to anger them.

"Of course!" answered the very human Cornelia. "I'll see you later, Jet!" she said, and then escorted the official out.

"Oh no!" said Corny, a second later. "I forgot about finding hiding places for your people in case the Fire Nation comes back! Jet can coordinate that! I'll just be a sec!"

But when Cornelia approached the town leader's office, she saw something very disturbing!

Jet was pocketing the money box! Picking it up and placing it in his bag!

Stealing!

"Jet? What are you doing??" said the shocked Guardian of Earth.

"Plant spirit!" exclaimed Jet, so fast and wheezy he almost blew the ever-present stem out of his mouth.

"Are you…stealing that money?" she asked him, point blank, dreading the answer.

"You don't understand!" declared the passionate freedom fighter. "They tax the people to pay off the Fire Nation, falsely thinking they can buy their freedom, then corrupt officials like that one skim money off the top, fattening their own purses! Meanwhile, the money paid to the Fire Nation helps them conquer other towns! It's evil! Do you know what I can do with this money? How many of our people I can free with a few well-placed bribes to corrupt Fire Nation guards? I have to do this! You can see that, right?"

"Oh!" said Cornelia, taking it all in. "It's kind of like a Robin Hood thing! Well, it's not what Caleb would have done, but…"

"Caleb?" said a questioning Jet. "Who's Caleb?"

"He was…another rebel leader I knew once." answered Cornelia.

"Plant Spirit?" called the town official, Mr. Choi, waiting at the door.

"I have to go now, Jet. We'll talk about this later." said the frazzled Cornelia, forgetting why she wanted to see Jet in the first place.

"What the heck was that all about, Jet?" said the irritated Smellerbee. "That money was ours! It was the agreed upon payment."

"But she doesn't know that!" pointed out Jet, chewing on his stem. "Spirits frown upon worldly things! They need a noble purpose. She'd never help us if she knew we were doing it for money! Leave the Plant Spirit to me! I know how to handle her! Okay?"

As always, Smellerbee and Long Shot acquiesced to their leader's wishes.

"Back to business, then. I had an idea." said Jet, the wheels turning in his head. "We had to change how we fought the Fire Nation when we lost Snares, Pipsqueak and the Duke, and were driven from our valley. But hit and run, harassment, whatever you want to call it, hasn't rallied the people to our side! So I've come up with a new plan…"

Meanwhile, Mr. Choi led Cornelia to the town's farmland.

The crops were withered and dying.

"You see our dilemma." stated the glum Mr. Choi. "Can you help us?"

"I'll do what I can." replied Cornelia, placing a hand upon the ground. "But first, let's see how the 'patient' is feeling."

At Cornelia's command, vines grew and rose from the ground, amazing the crowd who had gathered to watch.

Their oohs and ahs were quite audible, but Cornelia wasn't impressed.

The vines grew crooked and spindly, their leaves deformed. They weren't as healthy as her usual green creations.

"There is some resistance." stated Cornelia the plant doctor. "I need to go deeper to find the problem."

Then Cornelia did something she last did on Zamballa.

She attempted to communicate with the plants.

She wasn't sure if it would work (she was at full power on Zamballa, after all, and here she was at half power).

But she had to try. People were counting on her.

So Cornelia sent vines 'into' the ground, instead of making them grow out of the ground as she usually did.

The vines became roots, and the roots dug deeper & deeper into the soil.

Cornelia tried to 'feel' how the plants interacted with their environment.

Why were they dying? What was the deal here?

The denizens of the Earth Kingdom had never seen anything like Cornelia.

They were familiar with earth benders, but they could only move the soil around the roots and stalks.

Cornelia could move the plants themselves!

And while soil was important, no doubt, _how_ the plant processed the nutrients in the soil was just as important, if not more so.

There were many factors that determined how well, or even if, a plant grew.

But Cornelia commanded plant life, so she could never find any fault with the plants themselves.

Therefore, the Earth Guardian concentrated on outside factors to explain the stunted condition of the vegetation.

Absorbing the data gathered by her root probes, Cornelia learned all she could.

The plants in the area were being both poisoned and slowly starved!

"How do you get water for your crops?" Cornelia asked Mr. Choi.

"Irrigation." he answered, pointing to the series of ditches that brought water to the fields.

"That's your biggest problem. Irrigated water is too salty." stated the Earth Guardian. "Dig some deep wells, and you'll get fresh water. Also, you need to rotate your crops. That'll replenish the nutrients in the soil."

"You heard the plant spirit! Start digging! And take out the snagglegrass and plant some muzzlegrub! Now!" ordered Mr. Choi.

"Ah, you don't have to do it _today_." said the slightly embarrassed Cornelia, slowly realizing the effect her presence had on the people of this world.

Getting back to Jet and the others, Cornelia walked in on an unusual discussion.

"I still like Long Shot's idea better: Using the Plant Spirit to make the desert bloom with life." said Smellerbee.

"No, Smellerbee, the desert is too remote! We need to get the people on our side. The only people in the desert are sand benders! Trust me, you do not want to get involved with them! My plan is perfect! When the people gather in the stadium for the annual Earth games, we'll lock the doors, set a fire and blame it on the Fire Nation! We'll have the Plant Spirit save everyone, then the people will rise up against the Fire Nation, with us leading them! It's…"

"Jet? What are you talking about?" demanded Cornelia.

"Plant Spirit! I...You've seen how the people look at you! They still fear you! We can change all that!" said the quick-thinking Jet, playing on Cornelia's vanity.

"No, Jet! We can't put all those people in danger! I can't be a part of anything like that!" declared the upset Guardian of Earth.

"It's the only way! Don't you care about freeing our people? I'd do anything, pay any price, for that!" replied the zealous freedom fighter.

Except, if things went wrong, Jet wouldn't be the one who would pay the price.

Cornelia finally saw things clearly for the first time when she saw the glint of the fanatic in Jet's eyes.

"I, I think I made a mistake. I should go." said Cornelia, turning to leave, her mind a fog as she wondered how she could have been so wrong. About Jet. About her. About everything.

"You can't leave now!" yelled Jet, running after Cornelia and grabbing her by the arm. "We need you!"

"Let me go!" she shouted, twisting to get out of Jet's grasp.

"I saved you! You owe me! You ungrateful...!" replied the angry rebel, rearing his arm back as if he was preparing to strike her.

The significance of the raised hand was not lost upon Cornelia.

"Y, you were going to hit me!!" she cried, shocked and saddened at the same time.

Jet's mind raced as his intense feelings battled with his need to cover his actions and salvage the situation.

"No! I, I stopped myself! I would never hit you!" he pleaded. "Don't go! You're too important to our cause! Forget the stadium! I'll come up with a different plan! We have to free our people, and with the plant spirit by our side, we can't lose!"

"No, Jet." said the solemn Cornelia, speaking from the heart, fighting back the tears. "I don't know what you think I am. But I'm not a goddess. Or a plant spirit. Or even a princess."

Then Cornelia released her power. She shrank as she assumed her true age and form.

"I'm just a girl named Cornelia. And I can't help you anymore."

Then Cornelia ran off, sobbing.

Jet tried to go after her, but he was stopped.

By Smellerbee, who understood, more than any of them, what Cornelia truly was.

"No, Jet! You've got to let her go! She doesn't belong here! It's not her fight! We'll manage! We always have." she asked of her leader.

But Jet was strong, and while Smellerbee was pretty strong, too, her small size worked against her.

She was about this lose this particular test of strength when another intervened and helped her restrain Jet.

Long Shot!

Smellerbee was pleasantly surprised, and for a split second she dropped her guard and smiled.

A smile returned by Long Shot!

But then the moment was over, and the two rebels resumed their task - holding Jet back.

"You don't understand!" Jet exclaimed, the stem missing from his mouth. "All that talk about helping another rebel leader? She's not really a 'plant spirit'! She's the Spirit of Inspiration! She was sent here to inspire me to be a great leader, and I've driven her away! Lost. We're lost. There's no hope now. None. I've doomed our cause!"

"That's not true, Jet. You still have us!" said Smellerbee.

His friends gave Jet as much support as they could, but he was inconsolable.

Because, as he said, he had lost his best chance to strike a blow against the Fire Nation and free his people?

Or was it something…more?

Jet would deny it, if ever asked, but the truth is, even he didn't know the answer to that question.

Sometime later, a pair of winged Guardians, jointly holding another girl aloft, surveyed the land before them.

The vast coastal forest of the Earth Kingdom!

"This is the general area Cornelia was in when I made contact." said Taranee.

" 'General'? It's huge!" exclaimed Irma.

"Those woods are pretty thick and dark, which would make it hard to fly through. Let's land and see if there are any paths into it." offered Will, their leader.

Alighting at the edge of the forest, they saw some odd things.

A scorched tree trunk. Various broken branches, some lying on the ground and some hanging by a thread to their parent trees. An assortment of Fire Nation helmets. And one left boot.

But no trail through the thick brush.

Then it hit them - it was the telltale signs of a great battle!

Pondering their next move, the Guardians were interrupted by a couple of kids.

"You don't want to go in there." said the young girl.

"Why not?" asked Will.

"That's where the plant spirit lives!" answered the boy.

"Describe this 'plant spirit'." inquired the curious Taranee, hoping it was their lost friend.

"She looks like a human girl, but tall." replied the boy.

"Yeah, and she has dandelion hair." added the girl.

"Really?" said Taranee, intrigued at the term the people of this world used for blonde hair.

"Uh huh. She's pretty." said the youngster.

"Yep! That's our girl!" said the excited Irma.

"But I don't think she wants to see anybody. People who go in there, get caught in all the bushes and run right back out!" informed the boy.

"Well, she'll see us!" said the happy and confident Water Guardian.

"It makes sense." commented Taranee. "If Cornelia is being hunted, she'd want to make it as difficult as possible for her pursuers."

"But it makes it difficult for us, too! We can't fly in there!" said Will. "Are you still having trouble contacting her telepathically?"

"Mm-hmm." answered Taranee. "I still get static."

"Like that block earlier that prevented you from contacting Irma?" asked the Energy Guardian.

"No. This is different." replied the Guardian of Fire.

"Maybe you just need a boost?" suggested Will. "Maybe if we put our powers together, we can cut through the static."

"Let's do it!" shouted the eager Irma Lair, extending her hands to her two friends. "I'm dying to know what Corny did to get on a wanted poster!"

Joined together, Will and Irma's Guardian might fed Taranee's telepathy.

Taranee tried to concentrate, but Irma couldn't resist playing radio deejay.

"All right! Let's send this shoutout to our good friend Cornelia!" she said.

_Cornelia? _thought-asked Taranee. _Are you there?_

_Taranee? Is that you??_

_Yep!_

_It's so great to hear from you! But what was that about a 'shoutout'?_

_That was Irma! Will is here, too!_

_And Hay Lin?_

_No, she's not with us. We're going to pick her up next._

_Oh._

_How have you been?_

_I'm okay. Just sitting under a tree, talking to some plants._

_What?_

_Nothing. Why don't I meet you guys out there? It'd be...difficult for you to get in here._

_Yeah. We kind of figured that out! See you soon!_

Cornelia sat at the base of a huge tree, a 'grandfather' of the forest. It's trunk was as wide as a car, and it's branches soared upward, higher than the surrounding trees, and spread over a vast distance. Also, around Cornelia and the great tree grew a field of pale yellow daffodils.

"Well, time to go! It's been real. Thanks." said the expressionless Cornelia, though no one was with her.

Or was there?

When Cornelia got up, the great tree's branches and roots, which snaked out across the forest floor, tried to follow her.

But, since the tree was rooted to the spot, it could only wave its limbs.

Then Cornelia was gone, and the roots and branches stopped moving.

From a distance, one could almost say the tree looked like...a bear?

Exiting the forest, Cornelia Hale had a grand reunion with her friends!

They hugged and cried (but only tears of joy!)

However, the curious Irma couldn't resist asking about one sore subject.

"You gotta tell us all about mister tall, dark and Jet!" wondered Irma, thinking she was simply making conversation, and unaware this was a mistake. "Was he the Clyde to your Bonnie?"

"I, I thought he was like Caleb! But he wasn't! He…!" said Cornelia, bawling her eyes out.

"Hey, easy, Cornelia." consoled Will.

"It's okay, Corny. We're here now." said her friend, Taranee.

"I know. (sniff) Thanks. Thanks a lot." replied the very human Cornelia, wiping the tears away.

Irma felt terrible!

Luckily, she knew what to do in situations like these (she had some experience with Cornelia's breakups, after all).

"I'll take care of her, guys." said Irma, taking Cornelia by the hand. "Why don't you tell me all about it, Cornelia?"

"Huh." said Will.

"What?" asked Taranee.

"I, uh…" stammered Will Vandom.

"Thought that because they always snipe at each other and give each other a hard time, you forgot what good friends, no, _best friends_, they really are and have been for years?" suggested Taranee Cook.

"Well…yeah!" replied Will.

"I know. Me, too." added Taranee.

_Coming up:_

_The Guardians find Hay Lin!  
A happy occasion?_

_Well, yes and no._

_Someone else has found Hay Hay also!_

_Ohhh, ominous!_

_But it's not that bad! Really!_

_(Although it could get pretty bad! Hmmm!)_

_But before that: Iroh visits his brother, the Fire Lord!_

_Plus: Extra Scenes!_

Notes

Cornelia thought, as did the writer of the proverb, that the 'soil', the environment one is placed in, determines how one develops/acts. So she assumed that if one is a 'freedom fighter', they're automatically the good guys. But people are affected by more than their environment. There are many stories, for instance, of two brothers growing up in the same family, in the same neighborhood, with the same experiences, and one turns to a life of crime and becomes a gangster; The other dedicates his life to service to God and becomes a priest or a rabbi. (Although, to be fair, the author of the proverb was referring to love of God, and not general human behavior, although that's the most common interpretation).

There's a good line in the movie "The Cell' on this topic, but I don't have a copy.

When Jet tells Cornelia the money is taxes collected to pay off the Fire Nation, it's an obvious lie. The Fire Nation doesn't want Earth Kingdom money. They have plenty of their own money, thank you. The Fire Nation wants the Earth Kingdom's land. Or, as in this story, their crops.

The 'front lines'

In some wars, the front lines shift frequently. One side attacks and overruns the other, claiming the disputed land. Later, the other side counterattacks and grabs the land back. This, I theorize has been going on in the Earth Kingdom territory near the Fire Nation. Control of the land shifts back and forth, but lately the Fire Nation has gained the advantage, which is why some people try to 'accommodate' (buy off/barter/'negotiate' with) the Fire Nation and don't support the rebellion.

Doesn't charging those of the Earth Kingdom money to help them against the Fire Nation hurt Jet's cause since they're less likely to join his rebellion? Sure. But Jet considers it a win for the cause since he's taking money from those he considers traitors, as they don't stand up to the Fire Nation and instead try to pay them off with grain.

Cornelia has the right idea: Help people whenever possible, and hope they'll come around to your point of view. But her experience with Jet's group and her (limited) experience with the villagers of the Earth Kingdom lead her to limit all contact with people.

Many rebels/freedom fighters turn to criminal activity to support their struggles. Columbia's FARC is engaged in drug trafficking. Northern Ireland's IRA commits financial crimes. Etc, etc.

And, no, Jet couldn't be a real 'Robin Hood' and rob the Fire Nation moneysack used to pay all their soldiers, because that's Fire Nation money, and Jet would throw it back in disgust if he ever saw any.

Something happened to Jet's crew between Seasons 1 & 2. In Season 1, his group was larger and in one spot. In Season 2, he was a refugee far from his old home and his group was smaller. Why? This story could fill in some of the blanks. But the writers of Avatar never revealed the fate of Snares, Pipsqueak and the Duke (nor, even, the final fate of Jet himself). So I can't tell you, either. Were they killed? Captured? Did they run off and join the circus? Who knows? (I think the real reason they're not in season 2 is because they'd be superfluous, and crowd the scenes with Jet.)

I didn't like Jet's plan in the Season 1 episode, Jet. Blowing up the dam and killing everyone in town, women and children included, seemed a bit much. It made Jet _too_ evil. (They even had him beat up an old man! What, no babies were available?) My Jet has plenty of shades of gray, but he's not total, dark evil. His 'start a fire in the stadium and save everyone' plan almost sounded like it could work, too! Not that a _real_ hero would ever do something like that, though.

Cornelia as the 'princess' type is okay, but I kind of like Cornelia as the 'good girl attracted to the bad boy' type. And you have to admit, her powers are tailor-made for criminal activity! Telekinesis to get in locked rooms, vines to prevent pursuit. They're perfect for a robber!

I could see a soundtrack for this chapter. For instance, Gwen Stefani's "Just a Girl" could be playing during the montage when Cornelia runs from Jet and escapes into the forest.

Choi is a common Korean family name, and means governor. It's used often as the surname of antagonists in South Korean dramas. The three Chinese characters that make up the name Choi symbolize mountain, person, and soil.

Cornelia's crop solution is common sense, but I looked it up and it would work, but not for the reason you would think. Over-irrigated water does increase salinity of the soil, but it's because it waterlogs the land, and one of the solutions is to drain the water so the watertable is below the root zone. Which is what the wells would do. I love it when a plan comes together!

The Spirit of the Forest, Hei Bai, who looks like a giant panda, was in the Spirit World episode, Winter Solstice Part 1. (This is important later on).

I didn't plan the Smellerbee/Long Shot hook-up. I think I was feeling a little bit guilty for all the grief I was giving everyone else. And it was the day before Valentine's Day when I wrote it. They make such a cute couple, don't they? (Long Shot should probably watch out, though. I bet she bites! Uh oh! I better go! I think she heard me!)

According to Greek mythology, daffodils are spread over the plains of Hades and are the favorite food of the dead. Which symbolizes how Corny feels at the time? Yes. But there's more to it than that.

Buddha achieved enlightenment while sitting under a tree. However, Cornelia's no Buddha. But what is she?? That is something Cornelia (and you) will find out later.


	19. Extras: Guru and Deleted Scenes

Extras

_(Extra scenes to occupy your time until we resume our regularly scheduled story!)_

The Guru's Story (Flashback): What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been

The forest outside the Earth Kingdom town of Hi No Wa was quiet.

Then, a rumbling in the distance.

That got louder and louder.

Soon, a ruff rhino appeared, bearing a body laid across its broad back.

A body that was tied to the rhino.

However, the constant pounding of rhino hoof upon the ground caused the 'rider' to bounce up and down, loosening the bonds, and the involuntary passenger fell off the lumbering beast.

"Oof!" said the older man, rolling in the dirt.

The elderly man finished untying the ropes around his wrists, and watched as the rhino ran off.

Then he noticed he was near a town.

"Perhaps my luck is changing?" said the geriatric gentleman. "Now if only they serve onion and banana juice here! Then my day will be complete!"

It had been a rough time for Guru Pathik.

While trying to enter Ba Sing Se, he had angered some soldiers.

He still wasn't sure why.

He thought it was a case of mistaken identity.

Whatever the reason, there had been a near-riot, and he was the one they threw into prison.

'To teach me a lesson', they told him.

Which was ironic, since he was the one who usually taught the lesson.

But then, his whole life had been 'the wrong place at the wrong time.'

He had trained to be an Air Monk under Monk Gyatso, even though there were no Air Nomads left.

Finally, he had learned that an Air Nomad had been found - the Avatar, Aang!

His life had a purpose once more!

He only planned to stop in Ba Sing Se to procure supplies for his trip to the Eastern Air Temple.

Then, to his horror, he was thrown into a dark cavern and encased in crystal.

Although the young woman in the cell with him did make his imprisonment a bit more bearable.

Guru Pathik truly regretted that he couldn't do more for her!

But after his crystal prison exploded (why, he did not know), if he had said anything to her, his captors would have heard that he was out and then returned him to his crystal jail.

He could not have freed the poor girl, anyway.

Only an earth bender could have opened her cage.

So he snuck up to the entrance that was left open.

There were guards outside, but there was a commotion, and they left.

So he did, also.

The Guru crept out of the prison and into a city gone mad!

Flattened buildings!

Panicked crowds!

And fires everywhere!

In Ba Sing Se, which was supposedly fireproof!

He quickly hightailed it out of there!

Finally outside the city, Pathik thought the insanity was over.

But it had only just begun!

One moment he mentioned his plan to go the the Eastern Air Temple to mentor the Avatar, Aang.

The next, a flying man seemingly made of fire (If he wasn't burning, it sure looked like it - flames covered his whole body!) plucked him from the ground and asked what he knew about the Avatar.

All he could think was, thank the Spirits the man's flames extended above his hands, and not below, where the burning man held him.

Even so, the Guru's arms quickly grew tired.

It felt like they would come out of his sockets!

The burning gentleman must have also grown tired, but for him it was of Guru Pathik's non-answers.

So he dropped him into the sea.

The Guru did not sink very much, though.

There was something under the water.

Not submerged land.

No, too easy.

This was moving!

It was a sea serpent!

Guru Pathik held on for dear life as the sea beast jumped out of the water and back in again.

Repeatedly.

When he thought this is it, his life was over, something else happened!

Vines grabbed him and pulled him off of the sea serpent.

It was the people of the swamp!

They had rescued him!

And they appeared to have water benders among them!

The Guru could not believe his luck!

He had wanted to find a water bender before he returned to the Eastern Air Temple.

He believed bent water made for the best grown onions and bananas.

So of course his luck soon turned sour!

Once he mentioned that he was an escaped prisoner, the swamp people cooled to him.

He did not know why they were so agitated.

Then he found out.

When they traded him to the a group of Fire Nation marauders!

The swamp people were anxious to get the fire benders out of their swamp, and quickly made a deal.

But the Fire Nation did not care that he was an escaped convict.

They were more interested in the fact he was an Air Monk.

Who couldn't bend air!

It amused them greatly!

Apparently, they had been assigned to find the last air bender, Aang.

And all they could find was one ancient Air Monk!

They teased Guru Pathik mercilessly, then tied him to one of their rhinos.

When one of the drunken soldiers slapped the beast and it took off, the other soldiers thought it hilarious!

Then they realized they had just lost one of their rhinos.

"Well, maybe we can blame it on that flying fire bender?" asked one of the soldiers. "It's plausible!"

"Are you crazy? Do you know what happened to that Fire Nation squad that lost an engine because of a 'flying fire bender'?" replied the group's leader.

"Next you'll be pinning it on that 'plant spirit'!" joked another soldier.

"Well, why not?" offered the first soldier, to the disbelieving stares of the other warriors. "What? There's plenty of strange things happening these days! They might buy it!"

"How about we lost a rhino because we all went on a potty break and weren't watching it?" suggested a third.

His fellow troops quickly endorsed that idea.

The Guru, though, did not know of this scintillating discussion.

He only wished the constant motion of his body up and down, up and down, on the rhino's rough back would not damage his spleen.

Finally, though the ride ended and Guru Pathik was free!

Perhaps his luck had indeed changed, and the nearby town had the items he needed.

_And that's how Guru Pathik got to Irma's domicile, the Earth Kingdom town of Hi No Wa, before a certain flying Guardian duo._

_(Of course, Taranee and Will were hampered due to the fact they had to dodge Earth Kingdom soldiers and agents of the Dai Li when they escaped Ba Sing Se, not to mention Will needed time to rest up and get her strength back)._

_This is the last we see of the Guru, but not the last we hear of him!_

_Huh?_

_It all makes sense later, trust me!_

Deleted Scenes

Deleted Scene #1 - Chapter 8: Earth Girls Are Easy - Extended Kyoshi Warrior discussion

"You sandal-wearing schmucks!" Toph yelled. "I knew I should have gone after her myself! But no, Aang and Sokka said the Kyoshi warriors are so great blah blah blah!"

"Sokka's talked about me?" asked Suki. "What did he say?"

As Toph ignored her, the three humbled Kyoshi warriors slowly freed themselves, bit by bit, from the multiple vines that entangled them, and talked amongst themselves.

"What about Katara?" asked the second Kyoshi warrior. "Did she say anything about us?"

"Why does that matter?" asked the third Kyoshi warrior.

"Well, Suki's always going on about how great the Avatar is, even though he's just a kid, and mooning over that silly Sokka, but Katara's the cool one! I don't see why she should be ignored!" said the second girl.

"Is there something you'd like to tell us?" offered Suki.

"Yeah! Are you ready to…come out with anything?" teased the third warrior.

"What? NO!" denied the second girl. "Why is it so hard to praise someone of the same gender without having your sexuality called into question?"

"Hey, I didn't question anyone's sexuality!" said the third girl.

"Yes you did! Just now! It's bad enough people stare at us because we're girl warriors, and then you have to feed into the stereotype…" said the ticked off second warrior.

"I'm not the one making goo-goo eyes over Katara!" exclaimed the third Kyoshi warrior.

"I was not making goo-goo eyes! I…Look, if you had spent any time at all with her, you'd see what I'm talking about!" said the exasperated second Kyoshi warrior.

"Okay. Fine. You're not gay, alright? I'm sorry I said anything that sounded like that! I take it all back! Satisfied?" said the third warrior in a hasty apology.

"For now." replied the second girl, thinking the matter done.

"She is so gay for Katara." whispered the third girl to Suki, behind the back of the second.

Toph was dumbfounded.

"What are you freaks talking about?" asked the irritated Toph.

"Nothing." said the third Kyoshi warrior

"Nothing." parroted the second Kyoshi warrior.

"You're still young, Toph. You wouldn't understand. Just forget we said anything!" said Suki.

_This was cut, because, while humorous, it was inappropriate and distracted from the main points I wanted to convey. That is, how those of the Avatar's world view Cornelia. Wondering whether one of the Kyoshi warriors is gay was totally unnecessary. It's not as if it would lead to any new developments in the storyline._

Deleted Scene #2 - Chapter 14: The Special Properties of Dirt - Bathing Scene

_This would have been Scene 2 of the Chapter, after the fight scene._

Dusty and dirt after her recent mission, Cornelia took a break to wash up in a stream.

She dipped her head in the cool waters, then arched her lithe, skater's body backwards and shook her head to remove the excess water.

As she did this, leaves tumbled out of her long, flowing locks.

Cornelia had assumed a certain amount of privacy was afforded to her by her newfound compatriots, but someone was watching her.

Someone who couldn't take his eyes off of Cornelia.

"Jet!" yelled an alarmed Smellerbee. "What are you doing??"

"Looking." said the cool as ice freedom fighter, his back resting against a branch of the tree that curved out over the creek, his mouth chewing on the usual stem. "It's fascinating."

"Jet, you're spying on the plant spirit bathing!" said the dimunitive Smellerbee, pointing out that what Jet was doing was wrong.

"What?" said the distracted Jet, at last realizing what Smellerbee was accusing him of. "Oh, it's not like that! Did you see what she did with her hair? She shook it and leaves fell out! Plant leaves! Amazing!"

"No, I didn't see it, Jet, because I'm not staring at her! Now come on!" said Smellerbee, tugging on Jet's arm.

"Oh, all right!" conceded Jet, who gave up his perch in the tree overlooking Cornelia and followed his friend.

Although Jet couldn't resist one last peek at his 'plant spirit'.

How did he ever get so lucky?

The things she could do for his cause!

His mind raced with the possibilities.

In the water, Cornelia froze.

Had she sensed others about?

No.

For the briefest of instants, an image of Taranee danced in her head.

Then she lost it.

If it had been telepathy, Cornelia reasoned, Taranee would have said something.

Cornelia figured her mind was playing tricks on her, then went back to her bath.

Oblivious to everything going on around her.

_This scene was a bit harder to cut._

_It was deleted because it brings the forward action of the plot to a screeching halt, is unnecessary, kills the romantic tension created by the flirting in the previous scene since it displays Jet's true feelings about Cornelia (which should be revealed in the final scene), and, of course, is slightly risque and very inappropriate (not to mention it exposes my unfortunate fixation with a certain Earth Guardian). The only way it could have worked was if the chapter was much longer, possibly including a showdown with the Fire Nation. Then this scene would have been a welcome break from the action._

_So I replaced this scene with the 'girl talk' scene between Cornelia and Smellerbee, which has the added benefit of humanizing the 'plant spirit' to Smellerbee, and explains why she stopped Jet from following Corny._

_That being said, if I was writing a comic book or TV show, I'd probably include this scene anyway, longer chapter or not, because of its…graphic qualities. The part where Cornelia "arched her lithe, skater's body backwards" would be in slow motion, too! I'm such a perv!_


	20. Interlude 4: Iroh visits Ozai

Interlude Four: Iroh Visits His Brother

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, brother." said Iroh to Fire Lord Ozai. "I know we have not seen eye to eye on many things."

"Yes. But you would never have come back, risking imprisonment and worse for your traitorous acts, if the situation was not serious." replied Ozai. "So, what do you wish to discuss, brother?"

"To the point as always, Ozai! I would not mind having some tea first." said Iroh, who loved to relax and enjoy life.

But Ozai motioned no.

"Very well. I have something to tell you. It is about my trip to the Spirit World. Yes, I know how you feel about that subject. But there are things I have never told anyone!" revealed the suddenly serious fire bender.

"Go on." said the intrigued Fire Lord.

"While in the Spirit World, I fell through a glowing portal of some kind. At first, I believed myself to be in another part of the Spirit World, but later, upon reflection, I realized I was in another world entirely! A world of great beasts and dark magic! Where foul demons ruled all, crushing the spirit of the people! Yes, I know what it sounds like. But I'm telling you this because these creatures have traveled to our world! We are all in great danger!" warned Iroh.

"Thank you for informing me, brother. I'll take it under advisement. We are still under a truce, so you may go." said Ozai.

"This is no children's fable, brother! It is the truth! You must believe me!" said Iroh, grabbing Ozai.

Then, it happened.

Stray electricity, bent from Iroh's very soul, reached out to Fire Lord Ozai, causing the Fire Lord's form to bend and shift.

The Fire Lord became someone else!

Prince Phobos!

"No!" cried Iroh. "The demon...here??"

Angry beyond measure that his deception had been discovered, Phobos lashed out!

He struck the old man hard!

And the 'Dragon of the West' fell.

His hand throbbing in pain, Phobos cursed the luck that forced him to 'get his hands dirty'!

He acquired a new appreciation for Cedric's abilities, too.

If only his magic wasn't so weak on this world, he thought, he would have been able to maintain the glamour.

Then, he took stock and concluded that, all in all, things were going very well.

It was sheer luck that he intercepted the message intended for Ozai.

Then, instincts honed by years of palace intrigue on Meridian told him brother Iroh knew something that he, Phobos, could take advantage of.

And so, the playacting.

And now?

Now he had the lightning bender he needed for his great Wheel.

The wheel that would open the Veil between worlds, and lead to his greatest triumph!

He was only missing one final ingredient...

An air bender!

And the only one who might have stopped him lay unconscious at his feet.

He worked one more glamour, this time upon the lightning bender, then fastened iron manacles and an iron mask to dear, sweet, 'brother' Iroh, the better to prevent his natural electricity from undoing the glamour.

Then he had Fire Nation soldiers tie the masked Iroh to the Wheel, informing them that he was a traitor, and that they would dishonor the Fire Lord by speaking to the traitor, or even mentioning the traitor's name.

Pleased with himself, Phobos gazed at The Wheel, and the various elemental benders lashed to it.

The Wheel that spelled Good Fortune for Phobos.

And Mis Fortune for everyone else.

_Next:_

_The Guardians, reunited at last!_

_But who's raining on their parade now?_

_And is she really worse than Phobos?_

_Plus: _

_Azula acts like a real princess!_

_Ty Lee ponders a change!_

_Mai sharpens her knives!_

_And what the heck is there to eat in this place, anyway?_


	21. Lighter Than Air

Act II: Earth

_Earth is the element of substance._

_The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong._

_They are persistent and enduring._

- Iroh, "Bitter Work"

Chapter 15: Lighter Than Air

(Avatar Day - Remix, Part 1)

"_Reunited And It Feels So Good"_

In Avatar Town, Madam Wong lectured Hay Lin on the fine points of Miss Avatar protocol.

"At the reception, greet each dignitary warmly with a bow, but only spend a maximum of seven seconds on each greeting! Time is valuable, and equal treatment means none are offended." said Madam Wong.

"Yes, Madam Wong." said a bored Hay Lin.

"When you bow, do not bend your knees! When you sit, sit up straight! Do not cross your legs!" continued the demanding Madam Wong.

"Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am." squeaked Hay Lin.

"And whatever you do, be careful when flying around! Ceilings and upper walls are the hardest to clean, so they're usually filthy, and you can not get your robes dirty!" added the imperious M. Wong. "Then, at the awards presentation..."

Hay Lin struggled to pay attention. She remembered being chastised by Madam Wong for being distracted once (by a thought of Taranee that leapt into her mind at an inopportune moment) and resolved thereafter to be more alert to whatever Madam Wong said.

It was difficult, though. Hay Lin had just come off a grueling personal attendance schedule, and was dead-tired.

And now Madam Wong was readying even more things for her to do!

But when she heard Taranee in her head, this time for _real_, she felt re-energized, and knew what she had to do.

She took off!

"And then...Hay Lin, are you listening?" said Madam Wong, looking around the room for her charge. "Hay Lin? Are you invisible again? That is very impolite, Hay Lin! Invisibility is more appropriate for ladies in waiting!"

Meanwhile, the other four Guardians traveled to Avatar Town to see Hay Lin.

And they traveled in style!

(Stylish for the Avatar's world, that is)

Their own cart, pulled by a giant bird!

"It sure was nice of those people to give us this cart. Taranee and I were getting tired of flying you two around!" said Will.

"It was no problem for Corny!" piped up Irma. "All she had to do was flash that golden mane of hers, and they couldn't do enough for the 'plant spirit'!"

"What can I say? It's a gift!" said the full of herself Cornelia. "Hey, what does 'mane' mean, anyway?"

"You know - like the hair on a horse!" laughed Irma.

"Keep it up, Irma!" mock threatened Corny, levitating pieces of wood broken off of the cart into the shape of a hammer and chisel, which she floated in front of Irma.

"Ooh, I'm so scared! I know some tricks, too!" responded Irma, materializing water above her hand, which she then formed into a whip.

"Knock it off, you two!" mock ordered Will, smiling because she knew things were finally getting back to normal. "Taranee contacted Hay Lin! She's going to meet us at the town where she's been staying!"

"That's great news!" said Cornelia. "Did she say what she's been doing?"

"Forgot to ask." replied Taranee. "She said she was fine, though."

"We would have gotten to her faster if we didn't take all these back roads!" complained Irma.

"Irma, you know we had to do that!" argued Will. "We didn't want to run into any Fire Nation patrols! They're still looking for Cornelia, and we don't want any more problems on this world!"

"Oh, like a hat is a good disguise?" replied Irma, knocking Cornelia's hat off her head.

"Hey! Cut that out!" cried Cornelia. "It is too a good disguise! They're looking for a tall girl with blonde hair, not a short girl wearing a hat!"

"Besides, it's not all about Corny!" informed Taranee. "Neither me or Will are anxious to meet anyone from Ba Sing Se!"

"Yeah! They still blame us for burning their city!" added Will.

"Right! Even though we didn't do it!" said the Fire Guardian.

"You told us!" replied Cornelia. "It was that other guy with the Heart, who we're going to find after we get Hay Lin!"

"What worries me is, if things were that bad for all of us, think how bad it could've been for Hay Lin! I mean, they got rid of all the air elementals years ago, so she was probably in extra danger!" said Irma the Water Guardian.

Just then, the cart carrying the girls pulled onto the main road to Avatar Town.

The Guardians were surprised to see crowds of people and carts before them.

"Whoa!" said Will the Energy Guardian. "Look at all these people! I wonder what's going on?"

"I hope we can find Hay Lin in all this!" said Cornelia the Earth Guardian.

"I just hope she's okay, period!" said the pessimistic Irma.

"Irma, you don't know she ran into any trouble!" insisted Will.

"Oh, really?" challenged Irma. "Look at we went through, Will! You were sick and imprisoned, Taranee was feared and chased away as a 'fire demon' wherever she went, Corny was made into a wanted criminal by a supreme jerk, and I had to live on the streets for a time, begging for money! I can only imagine what Hay Lin went through! She's not as strong as us! She..."

"Would you like to buy an Avatar Hay Lin commemorative tea cup?" asked a peddler on the side of the road.

"Excuse me, what??" said the uber-confused Irma.

"Look at this, guys!" said Cornelia, grabbing a poster off the ground.

The poster said: Meet the new air bender, Avatar Hay Lin, at the Avatar Town Festival.

It even had a picture of Hay Lin on it!

"What?" said the flabbergasted Irma Lair, trying to process what she saw. "But she...we...how...dare she?"

"Irma..." cautioned Will.

"I'm going to kill her!" said the angry Irma.

"Irma!" scolded Will.

"I mean it, Will!" continued the mad as heck Irma. "We've been suffering, while she's been living the high life of a celebrity!"

"Irma!!!" said all three girls, pointing behind her.

"What??" replied Irma, turning around. "I..."

Then Hay Lin flew in.

"Hi, guys!" said the cheery air sprite, in her finest Miss Avatar regalia.

"Hay Lin!" exclaimed the now bubbly Irma Lair, changing her mood in a split second. "We were just talking about you! How are you? It's so good to see you! We've been so worried! Wow! Look at you, Hay Hay! You look like a million bucks!"

"Uh, so do you!" replied Hay Lin, trying to be polite, as Will and Taranee wore large, raggedy old robes to hide their wings, and Irma and Cornelia's outfits weren't much better.

"You have to tell us all about what happened to you!" said the upbeat Irma.

"Okay!" answered Hay Lin. "But we better do it inside! We're attracting a crowd out here!" she said, referring to all the people who gathered to see Hay Lin up close and personal.

"Hey, everybody!" Hay Lin called out to the crowd as she flew over their heads. "Welcome to the Avatar Town Festival! I hope you all have a pleasant time!"

The crowd cheered.

"Kill. K-I-L-L." said Irma, spelling it out.

Once inside the festival, the Guardians met up with Hay Lin, and melted into the crowd.

As they walked through the midway, the Guardians of Candracar passed vendors selling all sorts of things.

Avatar Hay Lin watchfobs (See time fly!).

Avatar Hay Lin doilies.

Avatar Hay Lin mobiles (for babies).

Avatar Hay Lin 'Uplifting Juice' (It makes you light on your feet!).

And, of course, Avatar Hay Lin wooden dollies!

There was other Avatar merchandise - kites, fans, chopsticks, etc. - that didn't have Hay Lin's name on it.

But the Hay Lin goods far outnumbered the others.

(Plus, the Hay Lin merch hit all the major demographics!)

"Um, Hay Lin?" asked the curious Will. "What's with all this 'Avatar' stuff?"

"Yeah!" wondered Irma. "They do know you're not the _real_ Avatar, right?"

"Of course they do!" agreed Hay Lin. "It's a form of respect. They hadn't seen an 'air bender' in 100 years, and then I blew into town! They thought it was a good omen, so they kind of adopted me for the role."

"So they made you Queen? How 'Wizard of Oz'!" cracked Irma.

"Hey, it's not like that! This is a real job!" countered Hay Lin. "I've got a whole list of things to do, and my boss is like a drill instructor!"

"Yeahhh. It sounds just terrible!" said the sarcastic Irma Lair.

"It's the truth!" defended Hay Lin. "She's worse than Phobos! Besides, they said if I did the whole 'Avatar' thing, they'd..."

"Care to try our specialty, youngster?" said a vendor to Irma, offering her a free sample.

"Sure!" replied Irma, reaching for it.

"Uh, that's okay, sir! They already ate! Thanks, anyway!" exclaimed Hay Lin, taking the bowl away from Irma and giving it back to the peddler.

"Huh? What's the dealio, Hay Hay?" complained Irma.

"You don't want any of that, Irma!" advised Hay Lin.

"Don't want what?" said the puzzled Irma.

"Unfried dough!" whispered Hay Lin.

"Yee-eee! Ack!" gasped Irma. "Are you serious?"

"If you're hungry, you should really try these, Irma!" said Cornelia, munching on some nuts.

"Yeah? What are they?" inquired the salivating Irma.

"Leechie nuts." replied Cornelia.

"Leechie nuts? That's what the people here feed their pets!" commented Hay Lin.

"What?? Like...dog food? Ptui!!" said the shocked Cornelia, spitting out the legumes.

"Well, that was educational!" joked Taranee. "Is there any edible food here?"

"Sure there is!" said a beaming Hay Lin. "Maybe not as good as Grandma's, but it's more than okay!"

"Well, that booth is pretty popular!" said Will, pointing to the line snaking from one of the festival vendors. "Maybe they have something good over there?"

Nearing it, they saw it didn't sell food. Or trinkets.

It was selling dye jobs!

"Get yer plant spirit hair! Only three silver pieces!" barked the man in front of the most popular booth at the festival.

"Think of all the money they're raking in! Makes me wish I had the dye job franchise!" whistled Irma.

"Hey, Cornelia, with 'plant spirit' hair so fashionable, you can probably ditch the hat!" suggested Will.

"Good idea, Will! I think I was starting to get 'helmet hair'!" said Cornelia, taking off the hat and tossing her hair to restore its body and bounce.

But when she shook her head, a few leaves fell out.

"Uh, genius?" said Irma, pointing to Cornelia's droppings, which could have given her identity away.

"What? Oh, sorry!" said Corny, scattering the leaves with her feet.

"Never mind. Just keep on moving and hope no one saw." said their leader, Will.

"What's going on?" asked the clueless Hay Lin.

"Cornelia's a wanted felon!" said Irma, who was proud of what Cornelia had done and yet still enjoyed 'sticking it to her'!

"What? Really?" said the impressed/shocked Air Guardian.

"Don't tell her that, Irma!" said Cornelia, who had a different take on events. "I was a freedom fighter, Hay Lin! I helped defend the people of the Earth Kingdom against the armies of the Fire Nation!"

"Wow! That sounds so much more interesting than what happened to me!" said the modest Hay Hay.

"That stuff isn't important now, Hay Lin! What is important, is that…" started Will.

"Hay Lin! There you are! Why did you run off, young lady?" interrupted Madam Wong.

"Madam Wong! Hi! Uh, I had to go meet my friends! Why didn't you tell me they were coming? Oh, I know! You wanted it to be a surprise!" replied the optimistic Hay Lin, who only sought to think the best of people.

"Er, yes. A surprise. So. _These_ are your friends? A group of ragamuffins?" said the pointed taskmistress.

"Excuse me?" retorted Cornelia.

"Cornelia…Easy now." cautioned Will, placing her hand on Cornelia's arm.

"Um, well, I kept the robe clean! See? Even though it itches like crazy! I think the silkworm that made it is still in there!" joked Hay Lin, trying to defuse the tension.

"The robes you wear are not for your personal convenience, Hay Lin. It denotes status. Something your friends lack, obviously." said the imperious Madam Wong.

"Let me at her, Will!" replied the angry Corny, who was held back by the Energy Guardian.

"I take back all those nasty things I said about how easy you had it, Hay Lin!" commented Irma.

"What?" said the puzzled Hay Lin.

"I much prefer those other youngsters you kept company with. The Princess and her associates." added Madam Wong.

"Huh?" said Cornelia, her mood changing from anger to glee. "You know a princess?"

"Oh, yeah, the princess and her friends!" enthused Hay Lin. "They're real interesting! And nice. Well, Ty Lee is. She used to work in a circus! And Azula's kind of nice. She can be a little distant at times. That whole 'aloof princess' thing, I guess! But she's mostly friendly! And Mai? She doesn't say much. (Between you and me, I don't think she likes cheery festivals. She seems kind of goth.) You've got to meet them! Be right back!" said Hay Lin, flying off, to the delight of onlookers who were waiting for a glimpse of the 'air bender, Avatar Hay Lin'.

"Princess? Princess of what?" inquired Taranee.

"The Fire Nation." answered Madam Wong. "But she was born that way. It's hardly her fault."

_Flashback: Azula and Co. arrive at the gate to Avatar Town and are stopped by the village guards. The guards won't let Azula and her retinue in. _

_Then Azula held up the ad that said all are invited. _

_"That's for the peasants of nearby Fire Nation villages - not soldiers and members of the royal family who have declared war on us!" pointed out the guard. "Begone! We've had enough trouble with Fire Nation marauders!"_

_"Oh, you have no idea what real trouble is!" said Azula, her voice dripping with menace. "Can I speak to whomever's in charge?" she asked, diplomatically._

_"Mr. Mayor!" greeted Azula. "I truly believe in this festival celebrating the Avatar! I think it can bring our people together. So I would like to sponsor it!"_

_"You have cash?" asked the Mayor. "How much?"_

_"Lots." answered Azula._

_"Very well!" said the Mayor, counting the money. "Then, purely in the interests of fostering peace between our two nations, you may enter!"_

_"Thank you, Mr. Mayor!" said Azula, a leer of triumph on her face._

In a private room, Hay Lin introduced her old friends to her new friends.

"Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia...meet Princess Azula, Mai and Ty Lee!" said the proud Guardian of Air.

Ty Lee waved a cheery hello, Mai offered a glum 'Hi', and the Guardians responded with their own greetings.

Then Princess Azula took over the conversation.

"You're Hay Lin's friends? We're so glad to meet you! Hay Lin has told us so much about you!" said the Fire Nation princess, exuding warmth. "If you could excuse us, Madam Wong?"

"Yes. Of course. Don't be too long, Hay Lin! The award presentations start soon, and the reception tea begins promptly at 4!" said the exiting Madam Wong, acquiescing to the wishes of her betters.

"Yes, Madam Wong! Thank you, Madam Wong!" said Hay Lin, bowing in relief.

"Let me see if I can guess who's who." said Azula. "You're Will, the leader, correct? So your special ability is…energy?"

"You could say that." answered the cautious Will Vandom.

"And you're...Irma?" continued the princess.

"Yep!" replied the gregarious Irma Lair. "How's it going?"

"Ah. The water bender." said Azula.

"That's how some people describe it." said Irma, cooling at the mention of the phrase 'water bender'.

"Then you must be Taranee!" said the mildly excited Princess Azula. "Of course. The fire bender! How could I not recognize the fire in your eyes. We have a lot in common!"

"I'm sure." said the cool Guardian of Fire.

"And you're the earth bender, Cordelia?" asked the almost sure Azula

"Cornelia. Pleased to meet you." corrected the polite Earth Guardian.

"Are you also that plant spirit we've heard so much about?" inquired the princess.

"Oh no!" denied Cornelia. "I'm no plant spirit! Honest!"

"Corny only has that hair because everyone else has it!" said Irma, who then told Azula and the others about the plant spirit dye job booth.

"Yes. It's, ah, all the rage! Although of course I was ahead of the trend!" bragged Cornelia.

"I see. Well, I hope we can be friends." replied Princess Azula.

"I told you dandelion hair looked good, Azula!" jumped in the irrepressible Ty Lee.

"Not now, Ty!" chastised Azula, as nicely as she could, while holding back her rage.

"So you're a real princess?" asked the starstruck (princess struck?) Corny.

"Yes. My father is the Fire Lord, leader of the Fire Nation." answered the royal Azula. "I'm here in the Earth Kingdom on a diplomatic mission. As I'm sure you have heard, there are some disputes between the Nations, and that's what I'm trying to resolve. Unfortunately, others want to derail my efforts for peace."

"That's terrible!" said Cornelia, buying Azula's story.

"Hold on, Corny!" interjected Taranee. "I've heard of some of these 'disputes', but they usually end up with the Fire Nation destroying some village!"

"I won't deny there are some...rogue elements in the army that are only out for their own gain, but, I assure you, we are doing all we can to prevent such incidents. Unfortunately, there are always atrocities on both sides in any war." said the spinmaster, Princess Azula. "You probably know, Taranee, better than anyone, how hard it is when people automatically assume terrible things about you, either based on appearance or reputation." added the empathetic Azula.

"I, I suppose so. People have been calling me a 'fire demon' ever since I got here!" admitted Taranee, warming up to the princess' point of view.

"See? That's what I mean. It's so hard to get people to talk through their problems when they harbor such negative attitudes, isn't it? That's why the Fire Nation is sponsoring this Avatar Day, so we can learn to resolve our differences peacefully and get along." said the insincere Azula, who nonetheless scored credibility points. "The main stumbling block to peace right now are those elements working to incite the people. Their lies and violent actions are causing much grief on both sides. We would be honored to have your assistance in stopping them. There is so much good we can do together."

"I don't know. We'll have to talk about it." responded Taranee, thinking it over.

"Of course." said Princess Azula.

"I don't understand, Azula!" piped up Ty Lee, out of earshot of the Guardians. "Why didn't we just grab this 'Avatar Hay Lin' when we had the chance? What's with this diplomatic act?"

"Yes, to 'grab' Hay Lin, as you put it. That was the original plan." replied the devious Azula. "But that was when I thought she was a scam put on by this Avatar Town, a scam we could use to lure the real Avatar into a trap! However, when I found out she was an actual air bender, and had friends, other elementals like her, the plan changed! If we can trick these strangers into working for us, the Fire Nation would be victorious very quickly, no matter what Aang and his friends do!"

Meanwhile, Taranee huddled with the other girls.

"I think I was too quick to judge before." confessed Taranee. "She sounds like she's on the up and up. And we can sure use their help finding the person who has the Heart. But I don't know too much about their conflict. The Earth Kingdom seems as bad as the Fire Nation, in my opinion! They even imprisoned Will!"

"Irma?" continued Taranee. "You spent a lot of time among the people. What do they say?"

"Well, when I worked in the bar, my boss ordered me not to talk about the war. Said it was 'bad for business'. Others didn't want to discuss the subject because they probably thought I was a spy for one side or the other. So I don't know who's right or wrong. Cornelia? You fought the Fire Nation. Bad as they say?"

"You worked in a bar?" said the surprised Corny.

"Key word: worked!" replied the uncomfortable Irma Lair. "It wasn't as much fun as it sounds! Now answer the question."

"Oh." said Cornelia, taken aback at Irma's display of anger. "I thought the Fire Nation was bad. But then the guy who told me that turned out to be a lying, murderous thief!" she added, thinking of the despised Jet.

"Hay Lin vouches for them." pointed out the Fire Guardian. "Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt and help them. Then they can help us!"

"Will?" said Taranee, turning to their leader. "You've been awfully quiet. What do you think?"

"I, I think I'm going crazy!" replied the Energy Guardian. "I'm hearing voices!"

_Oh no!_

_Are the Guardians going to be tricked into working for Azula?_

_Say it ain't so!_

_And what's wrong with Will?_

_Have our favorite elementals finally reunited only to face even greater perils?_

_You better believe it!_

_Coming up: More with W.I.T.C.H., Azula & Co._

_But first: An Interlude with Zuko and Jet!_

Notes

Cornelia is usually presented as the classical 'model' type (she even became one in the W.I.T.C.H. Adventures book _Stolen Spring_), but I thought Hay Lin was better suited for that occupation. Everything looks great on her. Her own clothes. That Asian outfit she wore to the party in Season 1. The Egyptian pharaoh costume in Season 2. Plus, she doesn't seem the type to compete in a Miss America pageant, so becoming 'Miss Avatar' plays against that, and shows a different side of her. Hay Lin also seemed the least likely to rebel/not go along with the Mayor's plan. She has more respect for her elders, whether they deserve it or not.


	22. Interlude 5: Zuko and Jet

Interlude Five: Zuko and Jet

The Burning Man and a Man Whose Soul Burns

In their secret base in the trees, two lonely freedom fighters discussed their leader.

"Jet's never been gone this long before, Long Shot! I'm worried!" said the diminitive yet formidable Smellerbee, looking at her silent friend for his answer.

"Yes, Long Shot, I know he can take care of himself! But still, we're supposed to look after each other. I…" she continued.

Then their eyes met.

They drew closer together, fell into an embrace (of comfort and support), looked into each other's eyes again, and...

_(fade)_

Meanwhile, Jet railed against the cruel fate that dangled hope in front of him, only to snatch it away!

He felt lost.

He even asked the Spirits for a sign, something he had never done before.

And, almost miraculously, a sign was given.

There, in the sky above him, Zuko burned through the firmament.

Prince Zuko had been testing his Candracar-given might.

Although he couldn't tamp down the flames (the fire was 'always on', and surrounded his body), he didn't mind it, as there had been no pain associated with the fire since the initial burning, when he unleashed the power of the Heart of Candracar for the first time.

He reasoned that with time would come greater control, and the flames would recede.

Also, he found he could shoot great balls of fire, or maybe it was lightning (or a combination of the two?), he was nigh indestructible (after accidentally plowing through an abandoned temple on a fog-shrouded mountaintop) and could fly vast distances.

He knew this last one because, after flying from the Earth Kingdom, he discovered he had gone as far as the North Pole.

The North Pole! Scene of his greatest failure!

He briefly wondered if his powers could melt the Water Benders' city, then decided it was beneath him.

Petty vengeance was beyond him even when he was plain old Zuko. Vengeance was much more of an 'Admiral Zhao' thing!

Then one of the foolish water benders started to fire iceballs at him!

He easily dissipated the attack, and was about to retaliate, when an older man ran out and stopped the combatant.

He recognized the man as the Chief of the tribe.

Then the Chief began calling to him, _Zuko_, saying he was a 'Great Spirit'!

This amused Zuko very much!

He didn't want to let one of his 'subjects' down, so he dropped out of the sky and hovered above the Chief.

"Oh, Great Spirit!" said the Chief. "Why are you here?"

"I was…looking for someone. But he's gone." answered Zuko, careful not to say too much.

"Someone of the Fire Nation?" inquired the tribal Chief.

"No. I am not with the Fire Nation." said Zuko, surprising himself. It was true he had been banished for a long time, but even he had never self-identified himself as not being of the great nation of Fire!

"Then are you in our world to stop the war?" wondered the water tribe Chief.

Zuko paused briefly. He had never considered it until the Chief said it.

But he knew it was true.

"Yes." Zuko answered the Chief. "I am here to end the war between the nations."

Then the Chief and his subjects began to bow before him.

Such worship was unsettling to Prince Zuko, who only recently became possessor of the Heart of Candracar.

He was about to leave, when a young girl threw herself at his feet.

Minua, the other granddaughter of Gran-Gran, who had come to the North Pole in a recent exchange with the South Pole.

And who was also Katara's and Sokka's cousin!

"Take me, o Spirit!" called out Minua. "Let my life seal this pact between our people!" she said, offering her hand up in marriage.

"Minua, child, you do not know what you are doing!" said the Chief, who recently had lost his only daughter, Princess Yue. "You are not yet of marrying age."

"No, but before long I will be." said the young water tribe girl who, though all of 13 going on 14, felt very grownup. "If it will end this horrible war and ensure our freedom, then I am happy to do it!" said Minua, who had just learned of the North Pole's custom of using marriage to forge ties between clans.

Prince Zuko was touched by the girl's devotion to her people.

And told her he would be back for her after he ended the war.

Flying back to the Earth Kingdom, two thoughts were uppermost in Zuko's mind:

One: Now, more than ever, he had to find the Avatar and regain his honor.

And two: He was going to enjoy being King of the World!

For the first time in a long time, Zuko smiled.

Scorching the air upon his return to the Earth Kingdom, Prince Zuko was surprised to find another trying to get his attention.

This time, a boy!

(Although, in truth, he was about the same age as Zuko).

Floating above the teenager in a clearing (careful not to accidentally ignite the landscape, although a few flames got away from him and were stamped out by the boy before they could grow into wildfires), the burning man once known as Zuko sought to learn the youngster's intentions.

"What are you?" asked Jet.

"I am the Fire God." answered Zuko who, though extremely powerful, still feared the Spirits and saw no reason to anger them. "And I am going to end the war."

"Cool." said the boy.

"You're not afraid?" inquired Zuko.

"Are you kidding?" said Jet. "I'm terrified! But you're what I've been waiting for for half my life! You say you want to end the war? Well, if you drive the Fire Nation from my valley, I'll gladly follow you to the ends of the earth!"

"Agreed." said Zuko. "I will do you that boon. Then, you must do something for me. Right now, I am searching for the Avatar. He is hiding somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. If the people of the Earth Kingdom give him up, they will be spared, and know freedom. If not, they will taste my terrible vengeance!"

"Spread the word." ordered Zuko. "Tell them I'm coming."

Jet watched as the 'Fire God' flew off to Jet's home valley.

"Amazing." Jet commented. "Find the Avatar and spread the word, eh?"

"I know just the place to start!" said Jet, as he peered at the poster he had found on the road.

It read: Meet the new air bender, Avatar Hay Lin, at the Avatar Town Festival.

Just added: The Annual Earth Games!

_Ewww!_

_Will Zuko really marry into Katara & Sokka's family?_

_I sure hope not!_

_What would the child of a water bender and a fire bender be, anyway?_

_A steam bender?_

_Nah, that sounds like what Sokka would become._

_See, he would get so angry steam would come out of his ears!_

_Never mind. _

_Next:_

_W.I.T.C.H. vs. Azula's girl gang!_

_Someone's gonna get their butts kicked!_

_Oh, please let it NOT be the Guardians!_

_Plus: Ty Lee gets her hair dyed!_

_(Aw, Ty, you don't have to do that! We love you just the way you are!_

_Cute, funloving, amoral, cares only about herself…)_

_Fun all around!_


	23. Will To See

Chapter 16: Will to See

(Avatar Day - Remix, Part 2)

"_Let's get ready to…Rrrrrumble!"_

"Will?" asked the concerned Taranee. "What do you mean, you 'hear voices'?"

"Just what I said!" said the worried Will. "When we got near those girls, I started to hear voices!"

"What do these 'voices' say?" said the curious Taranee.

"Crazy things! Like, 'I'll crush them all!' Or, 'I'll use these fools to capture the Avatar!' Yeah, I know, paranoid much?" said Will, desperately trying to understand what was going on with her.

"Will, you must be tired." suggested Taranee. "You went through a lot in Ba Sing Se."

"What does Taranee mean?" Hay Lin whispered to Cornelia.

"Will was a prisoner in Ba Sing Se." answered Cornelia, quietly. "She thought they put something in her food to make her talk, but who knows what else they did to her?"

"Oh my gosh!" replied Hay Lin.

"Why do you assume Will's imagining things?" said the peeved Irma to Taranee. "Those chicks have been throwing off bad vibes ever since we met them! Especially that Azula! Major creepy!"

"Irma! That's not very nice!" said Hay Lin.

"I didn't say it was!" replied Irma Lair. "But tell me you didn't feel it, too, Taranee? You were pretty icy to her, at first."

"Well, okay, I admit I did get a bad feeling from her. But that was before we got to know her. It's not fair to judge her based on a feeling!" argued the brainy Taranee Cook.

"Maybe Will is receiving radio waves or something from them?" wondered Irma. "She's got powers like that, and there's plenty of weird things on this world, so I wouldn't put it past them!"

"Now you're rationalizing because you didn't like when she called you a water bender!" pointed out the perceptive Taranee. "Will's just feeling out of sorts! That's all it is!"

"Don't tell me what I'm doing, Taranee! You always think you know everything, but you don't!" said the angry Irma.

"Guys! Stop fighting!" said Cornelia the peacemaker, separating Irma and Taranee. "You're supposed to be friends!"

"Wait. Hold up." interrupted Will. "What was that you said, Irma? You thought they were _broadcasting_ to me?"

"Yeah." replied Irma.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" said Taranee. "How could a person do that?"

"So their bodies are talking..? Hold on. Someone said something like that to me." said Will, remembering what the Guru told her in prison.

_Flashback:_

_"These abilities. They are part of you?" asked Guru Pathik._

_"Yes." answered Will._

_"Then do not be so quick to dismiss them. Even if you consider them 'useless', they are still part of your being. And understanding yourself is the first step towards understanding others._

"If I understand myself...I can understand others." pondered Will. "I think I see what he meant!"

"What kind of fortune cookie philosophy is that?" said the skeptical Taranee. "Uh, no offense, Hay Lin!"

"None taken." replied the Guardian of Air. "But what are you talking about, Will?'

"I was upset because I thought my extra power, to talk to electrical appliances, was useless, since there's no electricity here!" Will elaborated. "But that's not true, is it, Taranee?"

"What do you mean, Will?" asked the puzzled Fire Guardian. "There aren't any electrical appliances here! There aren't even any kites flying in a lightning storm!"

"But there is electricity!" declared Will. "I was arrested because they thought I was a lightning bender! And a lightning bender is a kind of..."

"Fire bender!" said Irma, completing the thought, as she recalled what the people of the bar would call Will, when Irma described her.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Will. "And here I thought that Guru guy was feeding me a line of bull hockey! He was totally on the money!"

"You met a Guru, too?" said the surprised Irma.

"I didn't know you met a guru, Irma!" said the intrigued Taranee.

"Heck, yes!" replied Irma. "I, I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for him! Weird guy, too! Always going on about onion and..."

"Banana juice?" added Will.

"Yes! How did you know?" said the pleasantly shocked Irma Lair.

"Because...it was the same guy?" suggested Will.

"Hold the phone!" said the disbelieving Taranee. "Will, you're saying this Guru guy, who you couldn't even prove _existed_, is the same Guru who helped Irma? How'd he beat us there? Did he fly like us?"

"I don't know how! But he did!" insisted Will.

"And that he clued you in to a use of your power you didn't know you had, to 'hear' the souls of lightning benders? You know how crazy that sounds?" continued Taranee the (usually) wise.

"Okay, it sounds a little crazy!" admitted Will the Energy Guardian. "But lots of strange things have happened! Why were we all sent to this world, when it should have been just me and you, Taranee? And how did we get separated?"

"We all went because you told the Heart to send all of us!" pointed out Taranee. "As for why we were separated, I don't know! Interference passing through the Veil, maybe?" suggested the Guardian of Fire.

"I think it's because there's something different about this world! Look at the way the elemental powers work here, for one. I mean, how many 'benders' are there, anyway? Lots! There's probably other things, too!" said Will, who had yet to learn about the Spirit World (but I'm getting ahead of myself).

"Nice theory, Will! But that's all it is!" commented the scientifically-minded Taranee.

"Um, guys?" interjected Cornelia. "There's an easy way to test Will's theory. Tell Azula we won't help her.."

"...And see how she reacts? Brilliant, Corny!" praised Irma.

"Hey, I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid!" said the braggy Cornelia.

"I don't know, guys!" said the wavering Hay Lin. "It seems kind of mean!"

"Don't worry, Hay Lin!" reassured Will. "If Azula's on the up and up, she'll take it okay! Then, if she checks out, we can still help her! Right, Taranee?"

"I guess so, Will." said the outvoted Taranee who would, of course, follow her leader and go with the majority.

Will happily thought, after so many setbacks and problems, things were finally going their way!

Each of the Guardians had made it out of whatever crisis they suffered when they arrived on this world, they were all back together, and united against any new threats they would face!

So, a confident Will Vandom marched her group to Azula and told her they couldn't help her.

As it turned out, though, Will would have been glad to be wrong!

When Azula got the bad news, Will's electrical 'receiver' went wild!

"Hay Lin!" she screamed! "Get out of here! They're going to kidnap you! We'll..."

**BOOOMMM**

Hay Lin disappeared, and Azula fired off a bolt that blew the other Guardians through the wall!

"Where did Hay Lin go?" demanded the ticked off Fire Princess, grabbing the stunned Will by her robe. "And how did you know she was the target??"

"Get...off!" yelled Will, using the power of her wings to add extra strength to her legs, her kick sending Azula flying into the opposite wall!

"Unh!" said Azula, as she fell to the floor, limbs sprawled.

Will then shed her robe and flew up, hovering above Azula, who slowly recovered, and Mai and Ty Lee.

"Stop right there!" ordered Will.

"You can fly? With wings?? Cool!" said Ty.

Outside, Taranee, Irma and Cornelia picked themselves up out of the rubble.

"Last time you question Will's hunches, Taranee?" quipped Irma.

"Oh yeah!" agreed Taranee.

Then Taranee flew back inside, joined by the earthbound Irma and Cornelia on foot.

"You think you can stop me?" challenged Azula, assuming a fighting stance.

"Maybe not, but we can!" said the head of the city guards, who all rushed into the room.

Hay Lin, floating behind the guards, had called them in.

They were followed by the Mayor and other officials in town for the reception.

"Princess Azula!" said the shocked Mayor. "What is going on?"

"These peasants attacked us!" said Azula. "I order you to arrest them!"

"They attacked us, Mr. Mayor!" insisted Will. "Arrest them!"

"It's true!" joined in Hay Lin. "They were going to kidnap me!"

"I said it was a mistake to let the Fire Nation in!" commented the captain of the guard.

"Ah, well..." stammered the Mayor, unsure what to do. He didn't want to arrest the daughter of the Fire Lord, and bring his awful wrath down upon his little town! But he couldn't let their crime go unpunished, either. He couldn't let anything jeopardize their precious 'avatar', Hay Lin. Then there was the matter of the two winged, flying girls. His mind swam in confusion. Then, he had the perfect idea! He wasn't mayor for nothing, after all! He knew how to make lemonade out of lemons! Tasty lemonade, too!

"Ahem!" announced the Mayor. "Since the facts are in dispute, we shall decide it according to Avatar Town law! You shall do battle in our arena, and the winner will go free!"

"What??" said the incredulous Taranee. "Are you serious?"

"Is everyone on this world insane?" said Will.

"What's the matter...afraid you'll lose?" sneered Azula, who knew her royal position made her virtually untouchable and had given her another chance to succeed in her mission.

"That'll be the day, girlie!" said the mad as heck Irma.

"Then it's settled!" said Mayor Tong. "You shall fight this afternoon! Separate the combatants, please, guards!"

"With pleasure!" said the head of the city guard. "Move along there, princess! You stay on that side of town, they'll stay over here!"

"Very well. Come along, girls!" said Azula, who withdrew with her retinue.

"Well, this is a fine mess!" said Taranee.

"Ah, we'll clean their clocks!" said Irma.

"Irma, did you see the power Azula had?" replied Taranee.

"So? We're pretty powerful, too! You can take 'er, easy!" said the confident Irma.

"But what about the other two girls?" wondered Cornelia. "What if they're fire benders, too?"

"We still outnumber them! Don't worry about it!" said Irma, blowing off her concerns.

"Especially with Hay Lin on our side! With her invisibility, she's like a secret weapon!" added Will.

"Hay Lin!" screeched Madam Wong. "I forbid you from taking part in any roughhousing! You have an image to maintain!"

"But I have to help them! They're my friends!" pleaded Hay Lin.

"As long as the festival runs, you're our Avatar representative, and must fulfill your contract!" insisted Madam Wong.

"But, but..." said Hay Hay.

"Sorry, guys." said Hay Lin, head lowered, as she flew off to fulfill her 'duties'.

"Well, this stinks!" said Irma.

"We have time. I'm going to see what I can find out about this 'bending', maybe get some good battle tips." offered Taranee.

"Sounds like a plan! We'll ask around, see if anyone knows what Mai or Ty Lee can do." said Will.

So Taranee set off for the library of Avatar Town to do research on fire benders.

And found...

"It's on the other side of town? Where Azula is? Oh, man!" griped Taranee, who knew her City Guard 'escort' wouldn't allow her to venture there.

"No worries, youngster!" said the helpful villager. "There's a private collector of scrolls down the street! I'm sure he can assist you!"

Entering the private residence, Taranee is shocked at what she sees: A collection of old, musty scrolls, most ready to fall apart!

"No wonder foxes take them!" hissed Taranee, under her breath.

"What was that, child?" said the elderly collector.

"Nothing, sir. I was just...marveling at your collection." replied Taranee, who realized the people of this world didn't have acid-free paper or Mylar. It was hardly their fault scrolls deteriorate, and probably did as best they could to preserve them. It was out of line for her to complain when someone was trying to help her. "It really is amazing, considering how hard it must have been to acquire them."

"I've always thought knowledge and education was important." said the old man.

"I totally agree!" replied Taranee.

"And you're not going to find a better collection of scrolls this side of Wan Shi Tong!" boasted the man. "That so-called 'library' on the other end of town? Nothing but trashy scrolls! You're much better off here!"

"Well, thank you, sir! That's very kind of you, to allow me such access to your scrolls." said the grateful Taranee.

"I'm always happy to help a seeker of knowledge such as yourself. It's obvious you only want what's best. That said, can I interest you in an Avatar Hay Lin scarf? It'll keep your neck warm!" said the knowledge collector, who had suddenly morphed into a street peddler.

"Ah, that's okay, sir." said the polite Taranee. "I don't have that problem."

"Suit yourself, young lady!" said the elderly gentleman, twirling the scarf around his neck as he walked away.

Taranee, alone with the scrolls, carefully picked them up and scanned them for any information on bending.

Later, Taranee met up with Will, Irma and Cornelia.

"Hi, guys!" greeted Taranee. "Success! I found some good info on elemental benders."

"Then you did better than us!" commented Will. "We couldn't find out anything on Mai or Ty Lee!"

"Although we did hear a lot about Azula!" added Cornelia. "Apparently she's some kind of child prodigy, and one of the best fire benders in the world! Everyone seemed afraid of her, and when they learned we were fighting her in the arena, offered their condolences!"

"Ah, so what?" said Irma Lair. "They don't know what we can do!"

"Well, maybe what I found out can help us." offered Taranee. "Bending is a kind of martial art…"

"Like karate of kung fu?" asked Will Vandom.

"Sort of." answered Taranee. "It's very spiritual, and uses many forms and stances."

"So anyone can learn to 'bend' earth or fire?" inquired Cornelia.

"No. That's the odd part. Apparently you have to be born into the right nation to bend that element. Only a person of the Earth Kingdom can learn how to bend earth, for example. But even then, it's still very difficult, and very few ever master bending."

"Well, that's some small relief!" said Irma, in jest. "Or else there'd be a zillion of 'em on this world, and we'd have our hands full!"

"As it is, no wonder they've been at war for a 100 years!" said Will. "All that power can't be good for stability, or keeping the peace! It's just too tempting!"

"They've been at war for 100 years? Really?" said the curious Taranee.

"That's what someone told us!" piped up Cornelia. "The Fire Nation started a war against the Earth, Air and Water nations a century ago!"

"That would explain why they were so quick to attack anyone they thought was a threat! Man, makes you wonder how they survived!" said the thoughtful Taranee.

"I heard the Avatar was supposed to end the war." added Will. "Because he represents all of the four elements in balance or something."

"Oh yeah! The avatar!" replied Taranee, recalling something she read on a scroll. "He's the only one who can bend all four elements!"

"Whoa! Sounds like a lot of pressure for one person!" commented Irma.

"Especially since he's supposed to be a kid!" interjected Cornelia.

"And I thought we had problems!" chimed in Will.

"Think how crazy our world would be if it had 'benders'." wondered Irma. "If Uriah was an earth bender, half the time Sheffield Institute would be buried under a landslide!" quipped the Water Guardian, referring to the juvenile delinquent who went to their school.

"Yeah, and if Laurent was a water bender, half the time school would be underwater!" added Corny.

"And if Nigel was a fire bender, hmmm!" suggested Taranee.

"But Nigel's not bad like those other two!" stated the oblivious Will.

"I think Taranee means they'd have some hot times together!" giggled Cornelia Hale.

"Ohh!" uttered Will, remembering Nigel was Taranee's boyfriend.

"Geez, Taranee, get your mind out of the gutter, er, fireplace!" joked Irma.

"Why? Fireplaces are pretty cozy!" cooed the Fire Guardian.

"We're all homesick, too, Taranee, but right now we have more important things to focus on!" said their leader, Will. "What else did you find?"

"Okay," said Taranee, regaining her composure and going back to her notes, "earth and water benders have to have their element nearby to affect it, but fire benders somehow 'bend' fire out of their own bodies! And they all need to learn certain moves in order to bend anything!"

"So, if they were tied up, they wouldn't be able to bend?" wondered Will.

"I guess so." said Taranee.

"What about air benders?" asked the Earth Guardian.

"Don't you remember?" said Irma. "They were all wiped out in the war!"

"Oh. Yeah." replied the suddenly sober Cornelia. "I guess these people play for keeps!"

"You got that right!" said the straight-shooting Irma Lair. "Tell me again why we're doing this, Will?"

"Because we can't run every time we encounter a problem! We have to make a stand!" intoned the leader of the Guardians. "If we're going to recover the Heart and stop Phobos, we'll need allies! I can tell, from speaking to the people, that Azula and the Fire Nation are despised. If we beat them, we'll be hailed as heroes, and that'll make our job a lot easier!" said Will, spelling it out.

The girls agreed this is what they had to do.

Across town, others were voicing similar concerns.

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" asked the perpetually depressed Mai.

"To put these Guardian peasants in their place, of course! Not to mention showing the other peasants who's in charge!" answered the cheerfully evil Princess Azula. "Also, the arena is next to a cliff. I've arranged to have the Fire Navy's latest ship, a submersible, stationed in the water below. Once we defeat these Guardians, we 'grab' Hay Lin, as Ty put it, and safely exit the Earth Kingdom with our prize!"

"Wow, Azula, you think of everything!" said the impressed Ty Lee.

"Someone has to." replied the thinking three steps ahead Azula.

Soon after, the Guardians arrived at the arena, where the Earth Games were still being played.

The contestants were having a little trouble with the 'boulder putt', or launching large boulders into the sea.

In fact, the struggling earth benders could barely get the massive rocks to the other side of the arena, and the spotters at that end of the arena, who were there to measure the distance of each rocklaunch, had to run for their lives!

The crowd was not happy, and booed loudly.

Seeing Hay Lin, who was there to award the winner of each event, Irma couldn't resist making a snarky comment.

"So, Hay Hay, some contest, huh?" she said

"Oh, hi, Irma!" greeted Hay Lin. "Um, well, I think they're supposed to shoot the rocks into the sea, and that's why people are booing. Someone said the best earth benders were drafted for the war, but they still wanted to hold the Games, to make their lives feel normal."

The crowd, fed up, began to head for the exits.

Just then, the Mayor arrived, with workers carrying boxes of goods.

"Attention, people!" announced the Mayor. "I'm temporarily suspending the Earth Games!"

The crowd cheered.

The Games' contestants, confused, stopped what they were doing.

"Because I'm here to announce a special event!" continued the Mayor. "Team Avatar vs. Team Fire Nation!"

Hearing this, the crowd went wild!

People who had left the arena turned around and came back.

"Get your banners here!" said the Mayor, pointing to the peddlers behind him selling the hastily created Team Avatar and Team Fire Nation banners, most of which had the words 'Team Avatar' or 'Team Fire Nation' written on them, while a select few featured Hay Lin's or Azula's image.

The crowd then swarmed the dealers' booths, snatching up the banner of their choice (heavily in favor of Team Avatar, of course!)

The Guardians saw what the Mayor was doing, and were not happy.

"Will, can you believe this?" complained Cornelia. "Bad enough they were using Hay Lin! Now, they're even using all of us to sell their junk!"

"I know, I know!" replied Will Vandom. "I'll take care of it!"

"Excuse me, Mr. Mayor?" interrupted Will. "We didn't agree to this! If you want our participation, you're going to have to...release Hay Lin from her contract!" demanded the Energy Guardian.

"Are you crazy?" said the Mayor. "Never!"

"We'll fly away! We have wings, remember? Then what kind of show will you have? You'll have a lot of disgruntled customers!" argued Will, more bluff than threat, because they were tired of running.

But the Mayor wasn't buying it.

"How about, instead of ripping up Hay Lin's contract, you give us 50 percent of the concessions?" offered Irma.

"Irma!" scolded Will.

"What, Will? We should get something out of this!" replied the Water Guardian.

"50 percent? No. 10 percent!" counter-offered the Mayor.

"25 percent?" bargained Irma.

"Yes, okay, 25 percent!" said the Mayor, grudgingly. He acted hurt, but inwardly gloated he got the better of the deal. He was afraid he'd have to give up 33 percent!

The Mayor rubbed his hands in glee as he thought of all the money he and his town would make off of the battle of the century.

The hapless Earth Games athletes, however, wanted to know if their events would be re-scheduled.

"Are you still here?" asked the angry Mayor. "Go on! Get out! Come back when you find some real earth benders!"

The city guards ran the athletes off, and then the last players arrived.

Princess Azula and her group! (Minus Ty Lee, that is).

"I hope we haven't missed anything!" said the sarcastic Azula. "Although the only thing I would truly miss is dear Hay Lin!" said the wicked girl, spying Hay Lin in the stands sitting next to Madam Wong and surrounded by guards.

"What is your problem?" asked the perturbed Cornelia. "I can't believe you're a princess! If you're a princess, I take back ever wanting to be one!"

"Oh, did Mommy tell you Princess fantasies when you were a widdle baby?" teased Azula.

"I'll have you know Princess play is a very healthy outlet for young girls, and teaches them…what am I saying? I sound like my mother!" moaned Corny.

"Are we doing this, or what?" asked Will, impatiently.

"We're only waiting for Ty." replied the princess. "She..."

"Hi, Azula!" waved the arriving Ty Lee, showing off her new 'do: the golden yellow tresses of a 'plant spirit' hair dye job! "What do you think?"

"Are you _trying_ to embarrass me?" said the ticked off Azula, privately, to Ty Lee.

"What do you mean" said the innocent Ty. "I always like to look my best when performing!" added the one-time circus star.

"Ty, that girl out there is the real Plant Spirit!" Azula informed her traveling companion.

"Really?" said the surprised Ty.

"Yes. Really. She may not match the description exactly - too short - but given what Hay Lin told us about her, what else could she be?"

"Wow. We get to fight the Plant Spirit!" said the excited Ty.

Azula thought, briefly, that Ty was excited by the prospect of great battle.

Then Ty opened her mouth again.

"So I should probably get her autograph before we fight, huh?" asked the clueless Ty Lee.

Azula's face full of rage told Ty that was a bad idea, and she promptly dropped it.

Meanwhile, the dignitaries in town for the Mayor's reception filed into the arena, taking seats in a box next to the field.

"I hope this will be worth it, Mr. Mayor!" said one of the VIP officials. "I've come a long way, all the way from Ba Sing Se, and it wasn't to see a fight!"

"Oh, this will be no ordinary battle, Marshal!" assured the Mayor. "This will be a contest for the ages!"

"Did you hear that, Will?" asked Taranee. "A marshal? From Ba Sing Se? We could blow our cover with this fight!"

"It's a little late for that, Taranee! Any cover we might have had has already been blown!" said Will, accepting their fate. "Let's just work through it."

Finally, the two teams of combatants were brought together in the arena.

And Azula had a surprise for the Guardians.

"Since you outnumber us, 4 to 3, and two of you can _fly_, the Mayor has agreed to allow us to augment our forces!" said the crafty Azula, pointing to the two Fire Nation soldiers accompanying herself, Ty and Mai.

"What the heck? That wasn't part of the deal!" said the upset Taranee.

"Yeah, Azula!" agreed Cornelia. "You were all for this fight when it was 5 vs. 3, and accused us of being chicken!"

"Guys, calm down!" said Will, taking the other Guardians aside. "We all knew she was going to cheat, so at least now we know how!"

"Yeah, but Will, how are we going to..?" uttered the concerned Taranee.

"Leave the two soldiers to me, Taranee! You can handle Azula, and Irma and Cornelia can take the other two!"

"The two who we still don't know what they can do!" griped Corny.

"Hey, how bad can it be?" said the confident Will Vandom. 'We've faced a lot worse!"

Then the announcer began the introductions.

The crowd lustily booed Azula and her crew (although Ty took a few bows), and then it was the Guardians' turn.

"And now, for Team Avatar!" said the announcer, pausing for the cheers of the crowd to subside. "The winged...is this right?" he said, leaning over to his friend when he saw Will and Taranee were described as fire benders.

"No! Don't say that!" replied his friend. "What's that word they used? Oh, right! Guardians!"

"Ahem!" said the announcer, clearing his throat and starting over. "Team Avatar: The Winged Guardians of...Righteousness!" he added, to separate Will and Taranee from other fire benders in the public's mind.

"Hear that, Will?" said Taranee Cook, waving to the crowd to acknowledge their cheers. "We're righteous!"

"I always thought so!" replied a smiling Will, floating above the ground.

Both winged elementals reveled in the adoring response of the crowd.

But one member of the audience took an extra long look at them: the Marshal from Ba Sing Se!

"...Plant Spirit!..." continued the announcer, to thunderous applause.

But one person was a trifle confused.

"That's the plant spirit?" said a member of the crowd to his neighbor. "I thought she'd be taller!"

"...Annnndddd...Who's this other one?" said the announcer to his friend.

"Me! Irma Lair! The, um, Water Spirit!" said Irma, trying to goose the crowd.

"The nerve! Calling herself a spirit? Hmphh!" said an offended spectator. "Tui and La, now those are spirits!" she added, referring to the Water Spirits of the Ocean and the Moon.

"And Irma whatsername, the water bender!" concluded the announcer, to polite applause.

Which really ticked Irma off!

But she couldn't complain, so she forced her face to make a tight smile.

_Next:_

_The fight you've been waiting for!_

_Azula & Co. vs. the Guardians!_

_Everyone gets what they've got coming to them!_

_Su-weet!_

Notes

I know I promised the big battle in this chapter, but the story grew and grew and grew! So I put the fight in the next chapter. But I'm posting it tomorrow, so you don't have to wait long.

Future chapters won't be as long as this one (thank God!)

Azula must be 'untouchable'. She travels throughout the Earth Kingdom, and no one ever stops her!

The Guardians don't fight each other much, which is good, but conflict adds spice to any story. And the intuitive Irma and the cognitive Taranee are bound to see things differently. It's a wonder they don't argue more!

Submarines seem like a modern, 20th Century innovation, but they've actually been around since 1623. Early versions had a lot of problems, though, and the modern sub didn't emerge until the late 19th Century. So the Fire Nation could have had a submarine. They already have tanks and giant drills.


	24. Azula, Mai & Ty vs the Guardians

Chapter 17: Azula, Mai & Ty Lee vs. the Guardians

(Avatar Day - Remix, Part 3)

"_Why can't we all just...get along?"_

_Ding! Ding!_

And so the battle began.

Taranee vs. Azula!

Will vs. the Fire Nation soldiers!

And Cornelia and Irma vs. Ty Lee and Mai!

Azula started off slow, shooting a few streams of fire at Taranee to gauge her abilities.

The aerobatic Fire Guardian easily parried her blasts of flame.

Will was having a harder time of it.

When the fire soldiers tried to burn her wings and shoot her out of the sky, Will spied two large boulders on the field and ducked for cover!

The crowd booed, but Will knew what she was doing.

(She hoped!)

Meanwhile, the other Guardians were not faring well, either, against their opponents.

Facing off against Ty Lee, Cornelia was a bit unsure on arena 'protocol'.

"Hey, nice hair!" Cornelia greeted Ty, thinking maybe she could get Ty's mind off of the fight and mentally disarm her.

"Thanks! You too!" responded Ty Lee.

"So, how do we do this?" replied Cornelia, trying to get Ty to reveal her abilities. "Do I go first, or you, or do we both come at each other at the same time?"

"Oh, I don't think it matters!" giggled Ty Lee, leaping over Cornelia, then turning and jabbing her fingers into Corny's pressure points, immobilizing her.

"What th?? I'm stuck??" said Cornelia, who found she was firmly rooted to the spot. "Irma! Watch out! Don't let her touch you!" warned Cornelia.

"Whoa!" said Irma, dodging Ty's attack. "I think that's going to be easier said than done!"

Preoccupied with her own survival, Irma couldn't concentrate and create a water attack.

Then Mai moved in.

"So you're the plant spirit, huh?" said the disappointed Mai. "Thought you'd be a better challenge! But then, I thought you'd be taller, too! Oh well." she added, as she passed Cornelia and prepared to help Ty fight Irma.

"Where are you going?" demanded Cornelia the Earth Guardian. "I'm not done fighting!"

"You're serious?" said Mai, caressing her knives.

Ty continued to harass Irma, chasing her across the arena, and keeping her far from water.

"Oh no!" yelled Hay Lin, perched in her assigned seat in the stands. "They're in trouble!"

"Hay Lin, this is their fight! Don't get any absurd ideas about helping them!" said the tough as nails Madam Wong.

"Of course not, Madam Wong!" agreed the subservient Hay Lin. "But it is making my stomach upset! Maybe you can get me something to settle it? You wouldn't want your Avatar to hurl on someone, do you? That wouldn't look good!"

"I suppose not!" said Madam Wong, the foul image almost making her sick. "Very well! I'll get you something to drink. Warm milk, perhaps. But don't move!"

"Where would I go, with all these guards around!" pointed out the innocent-sounding Hay Lin.

At that time, Princess Azula stepped up her attack.

The flying Taranee had the edge on maneuverability. Even running and jumping all over the arena, Azula couldn't get the drop on the Fire Guardian. Not only that, but Taranee could easily dodge Azula's heat blasts, or use her control over flame to turn away Azula's fire or even dissipate them entirely.

However, Azula's fiery shots came closer and closer to the spectators.

Finally, one of Azula's blue flames went straight at the crowd!

Taranee flew in front of the audience and blocked the fire ball!

She absorbed the flames easily enough, but the brunt of the blast blew her into the arena wall below the spectators.

But this was a big mistake on Azula's part.

Because now Taranee was mad!

As for Will, well, it may have looked like she was cowering, and fleeing the two Fire Nation soldiers in terror.

But she wasn't! Not really.

Will was planning her next move!

Will was the leader of the Guardians, but not because she had the Heart of Candracar. Nor because she was the smartest, or the strongest. Because she wasn't. No, Will was the leader because she followed her heart, and invariably got the others to go along with her, no matter the cost. Which was the mark of a true leader.

Also, Will was the Guardians' best tactician and hand-to-hand combatant, although she's too modest to ever admit it. She became expert at combat fighting during the time her energy powers were dormant. She couldn't wave her hand and zap someone, as the other girls did, and had to rely on her native abilities to win the day.

Even now, with her power over lightning fully developed, she often chose not to use them, or to use them judiciously. Such as in the fight today.

The fire bending soldiers, while not lightning benders themselves, probably had defenses against the direct use of lightning. But they more than likely had little or no defense against a flying girl!

So, huddled behind a pair of giant boulders left behind by the Earth Games athletes, while the troops of the Fire Nation tossed flames at her that ineffectually broke against the massive stones, Will looked around the arena and devised her plan of attack.

Because Will was a master at using the tools available to her.

Looking up, she saw hoops used in one of the Earth Bending Games. It was a game of skill, the object being to bend a rock through the hoop while your opponent uses another rock to prevent yours from going in. Kind of like 'air croquet', or a combination of Quidditch and basketball (except the hoop was vertical, not horizontal), or sort of like that ancient Aztec game she learned about in school.

Taranee said they had to move to bend, so Will quickly thought of a plan. She kicked one of the boulders towards the soldiers. She didn't have the strength to bowl them over with it. She didn't have to.

From her safe vantage point behind the other boulder, Will sent an arc of current that blasted the boulder into shrapnel and dust!

As the pair of Fire Nation troops dodged the many, many pebble projectiles hurling towards them, the dust obscured their vision, freeing Will to fly up, get two hoops, then fly over and 'ring toss' the soldiers.

Their arms thus confined, they were unable to shoot any more fire blasts her way. Will only had a few seconds before they freed themselves, but that was all she needed.

Will sailed over to where the Games kept the carts for the last event, the Cart Pull.

The Cart Pull was a crowd favorite. It consisted of an earth bender moving a great boulder down the track, the boulder tied to the cart by means of strong ropes, and all along the route, more and more of the contestants' teammates piled into the cart. So the winner was not only the first across the finish line, but also the one who could bend earth to pull the greatest weight!

As such, the ropes had to be so strong as to be unbreakable!

Taking the strong ropes used to bind the cart and boulder together, Will flew around and around the two hapless Fire Nation benders, securing them in an unbreakable grip. Arms and legs, included!

Victorious in her battle, Will checked on her teammates.

Irma and Cornelia were holding their own.

More importantly, they weren't facing fire benders, which is what the Guardians were most afraid of.

Then Will looked to see how Taranee was doing.

She had the toughest opponent - the expert fire bender, Princess Azula!

But Taranee had Azula well in hand.

Or did she?

Meanwhile, the others faced tough challenges of their own.

Cornelia may have seemed like a silly, boyfriend-obsessed, spoiled princess type, and in many ways she was. But she also had a deep love for her friends and, when it came to protecting them, she had the heart of a lioness! She'd do anything to help 'her girls'!

"You want to fight me? Really?" said the incredulous Mai.

"I can take you!" boasted Cornelia, trying to monopolize Mai's attention, so Irma only had to fight Ty.

"This I gotta see!" replied Mai. "How do you propose to do that, little girl?" she teased.

"I'm the Plant Spirit, remember?" said Cornelia, using her power to grow taller, although she still couldn't move. "See?"

"So you are the real Plant Spirit! Bonus." commented Mai. "You even grow like a plant!"

Just then Cornelia shook her newly-long hair to get it out of her face (her arms and legs were paralyzed, but not her head), and leaves fell out.

"Now that's just wrong!" said the grossed-out Mai. "But you amuse me, so I'll let you go first. Take your best shot!"

"You asked for it!" stated the Earth Guardian, mentally ordering her vines to ensnare the teenaged terror.

Which Mai casually and effortlessly chopped down with her extremely sharp knives!

"Uh oh!" said Cornelia.

"My turn!" Mai coolly stated, fingering her bladed weapons.

Irma, meantime, tried to get it together long enough to form some water she could use to stop Ty Lee.

But, dodging and jumping around as she was to keep out of Ty's clutches, her water was re-directed into the dirt.

Ty did slip a little on the newly-formed mud, but her perfect command of balance kept her upright.

Then, the unexpected: a strong gust of wind blew Ty down into the mud!

Irma was probably more shocked than Ty at this turn of events.

But Ty recovered quickly, and figured out what was going on even faster.

"It's your air bending friend, Hay Lin, isn't it?" surmised Ty Lee. "She's invisible! That's how she got away before!" Ty added, looking around for any signs of Hay Lin. Tracks in the mud. A still part of the sky. Anything.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" exclaimed Irma, not wanting to reveal any info about Hay Hay that Azula and her cronies could use against her.

"Oh, come on! I may act silly, but I'm not stupid!" replied Ty. "And just because I can't see your friend doesn't mean..."

Ty Lee then somersaulted backwards, guessing she leapt over her invisible nemesis, then executed a circle kick to catch her foe unawares, sweeping the area she thought Hay Lin might be in.

"...I can't hit her!" continued Ty, her efforts a success as she hit _something_ which produced an audible groan. "Ha! I win again! This is fun!" she cheered.

"Girl, you just got on my last nerve!" yelled the determined Irma. "If you've hurt my friend..."

"What are you going to do, water bender?" teased Ty Lee. "Look around! There's no water anywhere near here!"

At that moment, Taranee, not wanting to see the psychopathic Azula threaten anyone else, prepared to end their duel...by any means necessary!

"I've had enough of you and this ridiculous fight, Azula!" said the peeved Guardian of Fire. "You can bend fire all day, but it doesn't matter, because I _control_ fire! I bet I can even command the fire to stay in your body whenever you try to bend! I wonder what they would feel like? I bet it'd hurt! A lot!"

"You're right. I must bow to your superior fire bending skills, Guardian!" admitted Azula.

"So you'll give up and end this thing?" asked the hopeful Taranee.

"Oh, I didn't say that!" cackled Azula. "You've proven you can handle fire...but how about lightning?" said Azula, as she fired an electrified blue bolt of energy at the defenseless Taranee.

"That's my department, Azula!" said the Energy Guardian, flying between Taranee and Azula.

The huge lightning bolt crashed against Will's chest!

Will effortlessly absorbed the massive charge, not even bothering to move as she hung there in the sky.

"Ah! Feels good!" said the triumphant Will Vandom, drinking it in.

"No! You didn't even try to bend that out of your body! You, you should be dead! How??" said the stupefied princess of the Fire Nation, who was a master at bending but had never seen or heard of anyone like the Guardians before!

"How?" replied Will.

"How do you like my fist?" said Will, as her flying fist connected with Azula's jaw!

Azula was out like a light!

You'd think Taranee would be happy about that, but...

" 'How do you like my fist'?" Taranee questioned her leader.

"I was in the moment!" replied Will. "Besides, I didn't think zapping her with lightning would do any good!"

"I guess not, Will, but I think you've been watching too many bad movies!" commented Taranee.

"Probably!" replied the cheerful leader of the Guardians. "Now help me restrain her so she can't ask for a rematch!"

Meanwhile, Mai let fly her blades at Cornelia, who was unable to move out of the way!

Good thing Corny didn't have to!

She telekinetically took control of the knives, turned them around, sent them right at the very surprised Mai and pinned her to the ground!

"Give up?" asked the confident Guardian of Earth.

"How did you..?" said the perplexed Mai.

"Plant Spirit powers, remember?" added Cornelia. "What to see what else I can do?"

Cornelia whirled a blade above Mai's face, then made it stop in mid-air, it's edge pointing straight between Mai's eyes!

"I give! I give!" said the defeated Mai.

Irma, for her part, wondered if she could control herself against Ty Lee.

Ty had just hurt Hay Lin, and a vengeful Irma contemplated all the painful ways she could return the favor!

Then, on her left side, Irma heard a voice.

"I'm okay, Irma!" whispered the invisible Hay Lin. "She didn't hurt me! Now stop her!"

"You're a very lucky girl, you know that?" said Irma to Ty.

"Big words, water bender with no water to bend! What are you going to do about it?" replied Ty Lee.

"Nothing much...just this!" said Irma, forming a spray of water in front of Ty.

Hay Lin's intervention gave Irma enough time to focus her considerable elemental powers, though they were only at half her regular strength.

"Where did that...?" said the confused Ty, jumping out of the way of Irma's water attack. "Have you been holding out on me, water bender? Did you have water hidden on you?"

"Nope! Nothing in my hands!" said the theatrical Irma, holding up empty palms, her body motionless, as she formed more water jets in front of Ty Lee.

"It doesn't matter!" said Ty, dodging the plumes of water. "You still can't lay a hand on me!"

"Are you sure about that?" asked the cucumber cool Irma Lair, standing her ground, as she created a fountain of water behind Ty Lee.

A fountain of water that then formed a hand and...tapped on Ty's shoulder!

"That..that's you, isn't it? asked the worried Ty Lee, eyes darting all around, though her head was frozen in place as her fear grew. "You can form water anywhere?"

"Got that right!" said the supremely self-assured Water Guardian.

"So there's no way I can dodge it, is there?" said Ty, seeking confirmation of the worst possible outcome.

"Nope!" answered Irma.

"Crap. This is going to hurt, isn't it?" said the seemingly defeated Ty.

"Yep!" replied the triumphal Irma, thinking the battle as good as over.

Then Ty made one last ditch effort to disable Irma!

She lunged forward, the tips of her fingers reaching for both sides of Irma's neck!

As Ty got ever closer to her goal, Irma fell back, staying just out of reach!

Then, just when it appeared as if Ty would succeed in nailing Irma's pressure points, a whip of water slashed Ty's face!

She fell to the ground, unconscious!

"Wow!" said an impressed, and now visible, Hay Lin. "You made water into a whip? That's so nasty!"

"I know! Isn't it?" replied a smiling Irma, who had picked up that particular trick during her brief encounter with Katara and Sokka.

The crowd cheered.

Irma thought it was for her, and not Hay Lin or the other successful girls who had simultaneously defeated their foes, so she bowed.

"Thank you! Thank you! And that's Irma Lair, Water Guardian! Not water bender! Thank you!" said Irma, seeking more applause.

But she received only polite hand clapping.

And then...

"Yay, Irma!" one little girl yelled, clapping wildly.

Irma finally felt as if it had all been worth it!

All of the hard times. Everything she'd suffered.

Then...

"Now do a puppy!" asked her young fan, who knew Irma from her time as a street performer.

Irma seethed inwardly.

They still didn't understand her!

Most people considered what Irma did as trickery, or common water bending, even though it wasn't.

Irma tried to contain her anger, but some of it must have shown on her face.

"Irma?" asked the concerned Hay Lin. "Are you really mad at me for being 'Miss Avatar'? I only agreed to it because, if I did, they said they'd look for you guys!"

Now Irma was the one who misunderstood!

She felt like a heel!

"No, no, Hay Lin! I was never mad at you! I was mad at myself!" said Irma, by way of an apology.

"What do you mean, Irma?" asked Hay Lin.

But before Irma could explain, Will and Taranee asked for their help in securing Azula and the Fire Nation soldiers.

"Tell you what, Hay Hay! To prove there's no hard feelings, why don't we team up like old times and put these losers on ice!" said the friendly Irma, offering her hand to Hay Lin.

"Okay!" said the relieved Air Guardian, readily agreeing to Irma's idea.

Then they danced through the air, Irma creating water over Azula and the soldiers, while Hay Lin blew a gust of cold air on it that turned the water to ice, freezing the three fire benders in ice so solid they couldn't move anything, not even an eyelid!

However, the comments from the peanut gallery continued.

"Look at the so-called 'water bender'! She can't even make ice!" an audience member said, getting laughs from his companions.

But Irma didn't care.

She had her friends back, and that was all that mattered!

Lost in her glee, Irma got messy.

A piece of ice, ball-shaped, broke off and rolled away.

It reached the edge of the cliff and shattered on a boulder left over from the failed Earth Games with a loud KRAK.

The disturbed boulder then fell over the cliff and dropped into the sea.

"Oops!" said Irma.

"Ah, it'll be okay, Irma! There's nothing down there!" reassured Hay Lin.

"That's a relief!" said the Guardian of Water. "I don't want to be blamed for anything else!"

In the water down below, a member of the crew of the surfaced submarine looked up.

"Did you hear that?" said the Fire Navy crewman, referring to the loud KRAK that came from the cliff above.

"Hear what?" said his fellow submariner. "We received the signal! The Games are over! There's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Then what's that?" said the crewman, pointing to the rock that got larger and larger as it fell towards them!

"Abandon ship!" yelled the Fire Navy submariner, as he and all his mates jumped into the drink.

The boulder then crashed into the empty sub, sinking it.

Up above, the Guardians celebrated their victory.

(Well, they celebrated as much as they could after they tried to help Cornelia. She could wiggle her toes and move her fingers, but as for her arms & legs? Forget it! They decided to wait it out, or ask Ty to restore Corny's movement when she came to).

But their celebration was cut short by the arrival of you-know-who!

"Hay Lin! Look at what you did to that robe!" chastised Madam Wong, upon seeing the mud Hay Lin got on her precious silken robe.

"I'm sorry, Madam Wong, but I had to…" started the Air Guardian.

"Disobey me?" lectured the matron.

"Hay Lin, you don't have to take this!" said the annoyed Irma, who had the courage to say what everyone else was thinking.

"Mind your own business, young lady!" said the imperious Madam Wong.

"That's what I am doing!" replied Irma, prepared to give as good as she gets.

"Irma..." said Will, hoping to temper Irma's...enthusiasm.

"What, Will? Are you seriously going to stand by while these people treat our friend like dirt?" challenged Irma Lair.

"No, that's not what I'm saying, Irma!" replied Will Vandom. "But I think we can talk about this like reasonable people."

"You want to talk? Okay. Let's talk about how they _lied _to Hay Lin when they told her they would look for us if she would be their 'Avatar'!" said the indignant Water Guardian.

"What an outrageous accusation!" said Mayor Tong, feigning shock and dismay. "Of course we had our people looking for you girls!"

"Oh really?" argued Irma. "Then how come we never ran into anyone from your village? We were out there, making plenty of noise! Hello, infamous 'plant spirit', right over here!"

"Er, well, we may not have had our full resources applied to the task at hand at the moment!" said the Mayor, covering his rear end. "We've been so busy lately! It's been a madhouse!"

"Yeah, your precious 'Avatar Festival'! Couldn't let anything jeopardize your meal ticket, could you?" said Irma.

"It did, ah, bring you all together! So it's all good!" said the Mayor, spinning the situation in a desperate bid to end the argument.

"Irma, guys, please! I appreciate what you're saying. The Mayor and the businesspeople of the town probably _did _use me! But it's my fault, too! Me being the Avatar made people so happy! If you had seen the look on their faces when they saw me fly..." confessed Hay Lin. "So don't be mad at them! I'm the reason we've been apart for so long!"

"You're being too hard on yourself, Hay Lin! You were only trying to make the best of a bad situation. You didn't do anything wrong!" said Cornelia.

"Yeah! You only wanted to help people! Unlike these other clowns who only wanted to help themselves!" added Taranee.

"But the people didn't need 'Avatar Hay Lin'! They would have done just as well with regular ol' Hay Lin, the Hay Lin we knew and loved! It's always been enough before!" said Will, scoring serious debate points.

"Exactly!" agreed Irma. "Not to mention the fact we need the real Hay Lin, too!" she said, putting the cherry on top of this particular issue.

"You guys are right!" admitted Hay Lin. "So I'm going to put an end to this right now!"

Then Hay Lin flew up over the crowd and announced

"Attention, everybody! I appreciate the fact you like me and want to call me 'Avatar'. But I'm not the real Avatar! I'm not even an air bender! My name's Hay Lin, and I'm the Guardian of Air! I'm pleased to meet you all, and I hope I didn't disappoint anyone!"

Crowd reaction was immediate.

"She's not the Avatar?"

"What's a Guardian?"

But not everyone was pleased with this revelation.

"If she's not the Avatar, this 'Avatar Hay Lin collectible tea cup' you sold me is worthless!" complained an angry festival goer to the peddler who sold it to him.

Others soon joined the protest and demanded their money back, making the seller very nervous.

"Hold on!" said the peddler, trying to save his skin. "If she's not the Avatar, then those are production mistakes! So they're worth even more!"

"He's right!" a member of the crowd shouted. "I bet we can sell them for a lot more at the Earth Bay trading post!"

The angry crowd dispersed, as they all ran for the distant trading outpost, visions of easy riches dancing in their heads.

"Wait!" yelled the desperate peddler. "I'll give you 2, even 3 times what I charged you for those tea cups!"

But the crowd ignored him, and the hapless vendor watched as his one chance for a big score trotted out the door.

As the crowd passed holders of other 'Avatar Hay Lin' products on the way out, they spread the word.

Soon, most of the tourists were gone and, while the town's businessmen had sold most of their goods, they also were very depressed.

Although one could still get a good deal on Avatar Aang kites!

And Hay Lin wasn't done shaking things up!

"One more thing:" added Hay Lin. "I'm keeping the robe!"

"You go, Hay Lin!" said the Avatar Town villager who was the first to meet the one he erroneously called a 'spirit', after Hay Lin saved the young boy from falling.

"Gakk!" said the apoplectic Madam Wong, upset she lost control of the situation (and her robe).

"Ah, hold your chickens, lady!" said the flippant Irma. "I got enough money from the concessions to pay for new robes for all of us!"

"Excuse me. If she isn't the Avatar, someone has a lot of explaining to do! Marshal Han, from Ba Sing Se!" said the policeman, presenting his proof of office, inscribed with the Earth King's seal. "Impersonating an avatar is a serious offense!"

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean..." started Hay Lin.

"Marshal, you have it all wrong!" interrupted the Mayor. "We never said Hay Lin was the 'Avatar', merely his representative!" he said, hoping to protect his prized asset and work out a new deal with the silly girl and her friends. The Mayor figured 'Guardian' mania was about to bust wide open, and he wanted to be out in front of that hot new trend!

"Yeah, Hay Lin's their 'Miss Avatar'!" added the quick-thinking Irma, hoping to shield Hay Lin from any criminal penalties. "Queen of the Avatar Town Festival!"

"Exactly!" said the Mayor. "So you see, there's no cause for alarm!"

"So she's the winner of your 'Miss Avatar' contest?" asked the Marshal.

"Yes, of course!" agreed the Mayor, thinking he had defused the situation.

"So how many competed for this title?" said the Marshal, interrogating the Mayor.

"Ah, well, just her, you see, because..." said the suddenly speechless mayor.

"Oh, I see, alright! Running an illegal contest! Take him away, boys!" ordered the Marshal.

"No! You don't understand! I'm innocent!" pleaded the Mayor, as he was led away in earth cuffs.

"Tell it to the judge in Ba Sing Se!" exclaimed the Marshal. "I'd like to you thank you girls for exposing the Mayor's shady dealings! We've been after him for a long time!"

"Well, um, thank you, sir!" said Will. "We're always happy to help law enforcement."

"That's good. Because I have a few questions for you and your winged friend!" announced the Marshal, lowering the boom. "You two match the description of the fire bending girls seen flying around Ba Sing Se when it burned!"

"Ulp!" gasped Taranee.

"Sir, we didn't burn your city!" stated Will, emphatically.

"Hmmm. You also match the description of the girl who escaped the Dai Li!" said the serious policeman, giving Will the once over.

"I.." replied Will, who considered whether to run or face the music.

"Don't worry about that!" said the suddenly smiling Marshal. "The Dai Li is always interfering with our police work! So if you have a beef with them, it's no earth off my soil! But I do need you to answer some questions about the fire."

"Oh. Thank you! Okay, sure, Taranee and I can answer your questions." replied a relieved Will.

"Good!" said the Marshal. "Normally, I would have to take you back to Ba Sing Se for questioning..."

"Really? Because we have very important matters to attend to, and..." began Will.

"But...I can arrange to do the interview here...if you'd introduce me to the Plant Spirit! Just to get an autograph for my son, of course!" offered the Marshal.

"Of course, sir!" agreed the smiling Will. "That's no problem! Right, 'plant spirit'?"

"Sure! It's not like she's going anywhere!" added the amused Taranee.

"If I could move..." vaguely threatened Cornelia.

"But you can't! So be nice!" advised the snickering Water Guardian.

"Sigh. Okay." said Cornelia, caving to demand and taking the quill from Marshall Han to sign her name.

"Make it to Han" requested the Marshal.

"How old is your son, sir?" asked Cornelia Hale.

"36. Ah, did I say 36? I meant 12. He's 12!" said Marshal Han, his true intentions exposed. "So, how is life in the spirit world? Not as nice as down here, I bet! Why, I know a place that…" continued the Marshal, droning on.

"Sighhh." said the Earth Guardian.

"I guess not everyone on this world is crazy! Right, Will?" commented Irma Lair.

"You said it!" replied Will Vandom, laughing along with the rest of them.

"Excuse me, Guardians?" said the leader of a delegation of town elders. "We'd like to thank you! The Mayor and his cronies have been squeezing every copper piece out of this town for years! It's about time someone else had a chance to run this town!"

"Although we're not sure who that would be yet." commented another elder.

"How about asking the man with the private library? He seemed to know what he was doing! Knows enough to keep his neck warm, too!" said Taranee Cook.

"Who?" asked one of the elders.

"Old Qin Jing!" said the leader of the elders.

"Of course! An excellent choice! Let's go ask him!" replied the other town elder.

"Guardians, you're welcome to enjoy our town's hospitality." said the leader of the group of town elders. "We have fireworks scheduled for later, and you're all honored guests!"

"Wow, guys!" exclaimed Will. "It looks like things are finally going our way!"

"Great! Glad to see you're all enjoying yourselves!" bitched Cornelia. "Now can someone please get me unstuck?"

_Enjoy the fireworks while you can, girls!_

_Because someone's coming who'll crash your little party!_

_That's Trouble with a capital T, and that rhymes with Z and that stands for…you know!_

_Coming up:_

_Corny tries to find out what crawled up Irma's hindquarters and died!_

_But their talk is interrupted by the arrival of an old flame…_

_...And a new flame!_

_The fun continues!_

_But first:_

_Azula encounters Zuko!_

_(and she thought she was having a bad day before!_

_Kind of like that song: "Had a bad day, hm hm hm hmm!)_

_Don't you just love seeing Azula eat it?_

_But don't count her out yet!_

_A review of Avatar Town, by Aang, age 12 _- Worst town I ever visited!

_(But then, he was biased.)_

_Come back, Aang! They've made a lot of changes since you were last here!_


	25. Interlude 6: Zuko and Azula

Interlude Six - Zuko & Azula

The burning man, Prince Zuko, soared through the sky, leaving contrails of combusted atmosphere in his wake.

Behind him, in the distance, a town (recently rebuilt after a flood) burned.

He didn't want to do it.

He warned them.

But they wouldn't listen.

_It's almost funny_, thought Zuko. _Who knew Fire Nationals would be so upset someone burned them out of their homes? They've been doing it to other people for years!_

He gave them 24 hours to pack up what remained of their belongings and leave or, he told them, he would be back.

And then the burning wouldn't stop with their houses.

He knew they'd comply.

Because none of them could stop him.

As he flew through the air with an ease more typical of only one other thing on his world - _sky bisons_ - the ramifications of what he had done finally sunk into Zuko's mind.

He had taken up arms against his own people!

That was big.

_Real_ big!

Word of his attack was sure to get back to his father.

Zuko wondered if he should deliver the message in person?

Then he reconsidered, and went back to his original plan - to find the Avatar!

His newly gained lackey, Jet, may have a lead on the Avatar's whereabouts, so he set a course to meet him.

Meanwhile, another scion of the Fire Lord was traveling through the Earth Kingdom in search of the Avatar also, and she was not having any better luck in locating him.

In fact, her luck was worse.

A lot worse!

"It sure was nice of those Earth Kingdomers to let us go, since we did lose the fight!" stated Ty Lee.

"They never intended to arrest us, Ty!" pointed out the perceptive Princess Azula. "They wouldn't want to get 'daddy' mad at them!" she said, referring to her father the Fire Lord.

"Oh. Well, it was still nice of them!" added Ty, swinging on the tank they rode through the woods.

"Bah!" bitched Azula in reply.

She looked around the tank.

Mai, bored, was playing a solo game of mumbletypeg. However, with no ground to catch the trickily thrown knives, Mai had substituted the garments of the Fire Nation soldiers accompanying them (while the soldiers were still wearing them!). Azula wasn't concerned, since the soldiers were losers, anyway!

And Ty Lee was practicing her acrobatic moves, using the tank as her personal gym.

Azula wondered how she would complete her mission to capture Aang the Avatar.

Her Hay Lin ploy had gone bust, and she had no idea where the Avatar was or how to find him.

Ty Lee finished her workout and somersaulted in front of the princess.

"Wow, what a shiner, Azula! You almost look like Prince Zuko now!" said the amused Ty Lee, who finally got a good look at the black eye Will gave Princess Azula in their fight.

"Not now, Ty! I'm thinking!" she replied. "And will you get that ridiculous color out of your hair?" demanded Azula, speaking of how Ty dyed her hair 'plant spirit' color (that is, blonde like Cornelia's) back in Avatar Town.

"Sorry!" said Ty, who ran off to wash her hair.

Just then, the fiery Prince Zuko flew overhead.

Azula looked up and thought Taranee had followed them.

Zuko noticed the tank rolling through the countryside and recognized it as being of Fire Nation origin.

Then he spied the young girl at the head of it.

Could it be?

He flew down for a closer look.

It was her!

His hated sister, Azula!

The same Azula who had replaced him in his father's heart, and who had also tried to take him back to the Fire Lord in chains!

For her part, Princess Azula was very confused.

This wasn't that 'Guardian' who had somehow managed to best her in the arena!

Even though flames surrounded his body, certain features stood out.

Facial features she knew!

It was...

"Zuzu?" said the _very_ surprised Fire Princess.

Seeing Azula in her present state - unsure, beaten - Zuko banished any notion of revenge from his mind.

He thought, when he first saw it was her, this would be the perfect time to declare an 'Agni Kai', a challenge.

But now?

She was unworthy to face him.

Without a word, the burning man also known as Zuko rose up into the sky and continued his journey.

:"Azula?" asked Ty Lee, drying her once again brunette locks with a towel. "Who was that??"

"Father must be warned." replied the princess, as she watched Zuko disappear in the distance.

"What??" said the stunned Ty. "You're returning to the Fire Nation before you complete your mission? Won't the Fire Lord be upset you failed?"

"Yes, he will, Ty, but what I have to tell him is more important than any possible punishment he may dole out." said the sober Princess Azula, who knew the course of action she must take, and was willing to pay the price.

Spirits...No, more than spirits, _Gods_ were clearly at work on her world.

Everything had changed!

"Yeah, but he'll probably blame you for losing the sub thingy! Even though it wasn't your fault it sank!" added Ty Lee.

"Yes, Ty. I know, Ty. Leave it alone, Ty!" said Azula, trying to control her anger, and praying she could last the long trip back to the Fire Nation without destroying any of her companions.

_Next:_

_Cornelia, Irma, Jet & Zuko!_

_But it's no double date!_

_Oh, there's one more guest..._

_Death!_


	26. Coming of the Fire God

Chapter 18: Coming of the Fire God

The forest outside Avatar Town.

And two Guardians took a break from all the excitement.

Cornelia found a soft patch of ground in a clearing, sat down, and invited her friend to join her, but Irma elected to stand.

Then the Guardian of Earth dropped the question that had been on her mind for quite some time.

"You've been really angry lately, Irma. First with Hay Lin, then arguing with Taranee." began Cornelia. "Were you upset with Hay Lin? Because it seemed like you were really mad at her right before we found her. Why?"

"It's not Hay Lin." revealed Irma. "She's great. It's…" she stopped, unable to say more.

"Did something happen to you?" asked the concerned Earth Guardian, who realized Irma never told her the full story of her stay in the Earth Kingdom when she learned of Irma's time tending bar.

"Something. Yeah. You could say that." admitted Irma, looking down at the ground to find a rock to boot with her sandaled foot, as she didn't wish to meet Cornelia's gaze.

"Do you want to talk about it?" said Corny, being as supportive as she could.

"Not really. It's…difficult." said Irma, raising her head to finally face the deep, soulful eyes of Cornelia.

Irma didn't want to talk about it. Irma hated the very idea of talking about it!

But she couldn't hate her friend for bringing it up.

"Well, whenever you want to, I'm here for you, Irma. All the girls are." said Cornelia, giving her friend a hug.

"I know that. Thanks. Maybe later. But you didn't bring me here to grill me, did you?" asked Irma, trying to change the subject.

"I suppose not. I wanted to get away for a bit. It's quiet here." replied Cornelia, who never wanted to be the 'famous Plant Spirit', and cared little for the crowds the Spirit attracted in Avatar Town. "And plants don't lie to you." she added.

"You mean Jet?" commented Irma, knowing just the mention of his name made Corny see red.

"I'm over him! He was such a big jerk!" snarled Cornelia.

Irma felt bad for playing her friend in this way, and changed the subject yet again.

"You can really talk to plants?" said Irma, who actually had wondered about Cornelia's abilities.

"Sort of. It's not really 'talking'. It's more like I know how they feel." answered the Guardian of Earth. "It's weird. Everything on this world seems so alive! I mean, our Earth is obviously alive, but it's even more so here." said Corny, touching a flower growing from the forest floor.

"I know what you mean." agreed Irma, who proceeded to open up and share her thoughts on a subject not about her. "It's like there's so much magic here, but it's almost always just out of reach. At times, you can practically see it out of the corner of your eye. It's a subtle thing. Not like on our Earth, where magic is completely hidden! It's as if this world was a cross between our Earth and Meridian. Must be why Phobos wants it."

"I guess." replied Corny, taking a meal out of her sack that Hay Lin had packed away for her.

"What's that?" asked the Water Guardian.

"Muzzlegrub sandwich." said Cornelia. "Want one?"

"Hold on! What's a muzzlegrub? Some kind of rodent?" said Irma who, if there was one thing she knew about this world, it was the crazy animal combinations. I mean, catgators? Skunkbears? Please!

"Of course not!" denied Cornelia. "It's a food crop."

"A veggieburger?" said the amused Irma.

"Hey, it's good!" crowed the Earth Guardian.

"Do your plant friends know what you eat?" teased Irma.

"Ha ha." said Cornelia, between bites.

Irma noticed something was missing from this picnicky scene.

"Yo, Corny!" declared Irma. "Need a drink?" she said, magicing up a fountain of water.

"I'm not sure. I don't know where it's been!" joked Cornelia. "Hey, Irma, why don't you stick around a while? Pull up a rock!" she said, telekinetically moving a large, flat rock under Irma.

Irma then sat down and got into the picnic spirit.

Over lunch, they talked about various things.

"You know, it's great being able to openly use our powers and all, but the way people act around me? Not so great. I'm far more than a 'plant spirit'!" said the Earth Guardian.

"I know what you mean." replied Irma. "People thought I was about water bending, and that's all, when I performed my act."

"You had an act?" asked the surprised Corny.

"Sure! I had to do something for money! Want to see?" offered Irma.

"Of course!" said Cornelia, with anticipation.

Irma then demonstrated her street performer act.

It was a traditional Earth Kingdom song about a dog.

Irma sang it, and her watery creations 'performed' it.

It ended with "... And the dog ran all the way home!", and it looked as if Irma's water dog was actually running.

"Ha! That's great!" laughed Corny, applauding.

Irma hadn't seen her friend laugh in a long time. It felt good.

So the next thing she had to say made her feel terrible.

"Are you sure you're over Jet? " asked Irma Lair, with trepidation.

"Yes, of course I am! That's what I said!" seethed Cornelia Hale.

"That's good, because that guy over there looks just like the picture I saw on his 'wanted' poster!" pointed out Irma.

"Well, well, well! Plant Spirit!" announced Jet. "Fancy meeting you here! Although it's not too surprising, you being a plant spirit, and this a forest..."

"What are you doing here, Jet? On second thought, I don't care! Get lost!" ordered Cornelia.

"Whoa! I'm just passing through, on my way to the Avatar Festival!" said the charismatic, onetime rebel leader. "And don't be so quick to dismiss me. Don't you want your share of the money we earned? I've been saving it for you." needled Jet, who must have had a death wish.

"You used me?" said the furious Earth Guardian. "To make money??"

"Something like you falls into my lap, how could I not? But it wasn't all about the money. That was just a fringe benefit." revealed the confident rebel. "One thing I never understood, though. What was the deal with eating all those leechie nuts? That's animal food!"

"I'm a vegetarian, Jet! Yet another thing you didn't understand about me!" argued Cornelia.

"You want to know what your problem is? You're too emotional!" shot back Jet.

"Leave now or, or I won't be responsible for what happens!" said the enraged Corny.

Cornelia's vitriol towards Jet surprised the Water Guardian.

Irma thought, if they ever ran into the jerk, she'd be the one to put him in his place.

Given how mad Cornelia was, though, Irma was afraid the situation could get very, very bad if things escalated, and decided to put a stop it.

"Hi-yaa!" yelled Irma, jumping in, arms in a faux karate stance because she remembered how Taranee said bending was a martial art.

"What is she doing?" asked the unconcerned Jet.

"I'm a water bender!" exclaimed Irma, trying to scare Jet. "So you better run along, or..."

"Thanks, Irma, but I can handle this guy, no problem!" declared Cornelia. "Leave now, Jet, or else!"

"Or else what?" responded the smirking Jet, who thought Cornelia's residual feelings for him would protect him from her wrath.

"You don't want to know!" replied the steadfast Earth Guardian.

"You want to go at it?" dared Jet. "Okay! Let's do it!" he said, unsheathing his twin blades from their scabbard and advancing on the one he called 'Plant Spirit'.

Cornelia gasped.

Even she didn't think Jet was so obnoxious as to fight her!

But her shock only lasted a split second.

She wasn't about to back down!

"What are you going to do?" teased Jet. "Grow vines? I'll slice 'em!"

"You never did understand anything, did you?" said Cornelia, retreating but still defiant.

Then she raised the earth very quickly under Jet's feet, sending him flying!

He struggled back to his feet, but this time, when he tried to raise his twin tiger head swords against her, Corny was ready for him.

Cornelia took control of his hook blades and aimed them right at his throat!

Jet was trapped!

At Cornelia's mercy!

"And do you want to know what your problem is? You rely too much on weapons!" bellowed Cornelia.

"Corny! Don't!" yelled Irma, seriously worried about her friend's mental state because of what she herself had gone through when the injured Earth soldier died due to her actions.

Cornelia glanced over at Irma, puzzled, then turned her attention back to Jet and used his swords to knock him out.

"And my name's Cornelia, not plant spirit!" she exclaimed as he lost consciousness.

Dragging him like a sack of potatoes to a tree to tie him up, Cornelia asked Irma "You didn't really think I'd kill him, did you?"

"I don't know. Hunh. Seems like I don't know much of anything, anymore!" replied Irma, shrugging her shoulders.

Cornelia didn't know what Irma meant, but before she could ponder it or explore it any further, Jet began to wake up.

"Now you're going to tell us what you're doing here, Jet! No lies this time!" demanded Corny of the restrained rebel.

"You really want to know?" said Jet. "Why not? You'll find out soon enough!"

"What are you talking about?" ordered the Guardian of Earth. "What crazy, dangerous scheme are you up to now?"

"I serve a new master - the Fire God! " exclaimed the proud lackey.

"Fire God??" questioned Irma. "Who the heck is that?"

"The Fire God will save us all!" Jet declared. "He comes to burn away the old world to make way for the new!"

As if on cue, Prince Zuko appeared in the sky, looking for Jet.

"Uh oh. I think we're in trouble!" said Irma of the flaming figure in the air above them.

Zuko didn't think much of being denied what he wanted by a pair of silly girls, so he aimed his fire balls at Jet's bonds that encircled the tree behind Jet.

The bonds burned, releasing the former leader of the freedom fighters.

But Zuko was careless, and sparks fell on the grass and trees, igniting a forest fire.

Which Irma and Cornelia attempted to stamp out.

But Irma's waterfall and Cornelia's movement of soil to suffocate the blaze weren't enough to put it out completely!

Then Zuko swooped in to pick up Jet, his arms extending out of his personal 'fire field' that was always around him so he could grasp Jet without burning the loyal follower.

"Stop!" Cornelia screamed at Zuko "Are you crazy, starting a fire in a forest? You could burn it down!"

"Wait!" Irma cautioned Cornelia, grabbing her arm. Irma recognized the familiar pinkish hue of the Heart of Candracar, and figured this must be the man who took it.

"No, Irma!" said the Earth Guardian, yanking her arm free of Irma's grasp. "I can't let you take Jet! He's a dangerous criminal!" she declared to Zuko.

Cornelia then had her vines grow and reach around Jet's legs, preventing the fiery Prince from absconding with Jet.

Zuko was surprised at the actions of the odd, yellow-haired girl.

_A plant bender??_ he thought. _Am I dealing with a spirit?_

But he was more annoyed than anything.

It didn't matter if she was a spirit! No one was going to stop him from regaining his honor and achieving his destiny!

And he had the power to make it happen!

So Prince Zuko waved his hand once and fire shot out, obliterating the vines that anchored his subject to the earth.

Then he waved his hand a second time and a wall of fire flared up around Irma and Cornelia!

Surrounded, the two half-powered Guardians were unable to end the Heart of Candracar-powered conflagration. Irma's water turned to steam when it met the flame, and Corny's 'soil bomb' only scattered fiery embers at them.

They could only watch, helplessly, as Zuko flew away with their captive while the circle of fire slowly advanced on them, its sister blazes burning the rest of the forest around them.

Powerless to stop the encroaching fire, Cornelia and Irma had no choice but to wait for the end.

Together.

When the mighty inferno finally exhausted all of the dry tinder fuel of the woods, the entire forest was burned down.

There was nothing left.

And there was no trace of Irma or Cornelia. Nothing, no evidence, to indicate they were ever there.

All that remained were charred embers on the forest floor.

_Oh no!_

_I didn't just kill off two of my main characters, did I?_

_I'm going to have to watch that in the future!_

_Next:_

_Hay Lin shows the residents of Avatar Town what real home cookin' is,_

_ably assisted by Taranee. (Well, Hay Hay tries to, anyway!)_

_Plus: Taranee's theories on the Avatar's World!_

_(Does his world have anything to do with Xin Jing and the Four Dragons?)_

_And young Bao makes a most impolite comment._

_(Let's just say, the NAACP would not be happy!)_

_Meanwhile, Will tells Marshal Han the untold story of her and Taranee's_

"_Escape From Ba Sing Se"!_


	27. Escape From Ba Sing Se

Chapter 19: Escape From Ba Sing Se

"You don't have to do this, Hay Lin." said Mr. Chan, as Hay Lin proceeded to take over his kitchen.

"Sure I do!" insisted the Guardian of Air. "All of you have been so nice to me! It's about time I gave something back!" said the eager to please air sprite, as she raced around the kitchen gathering the ingredients she needed for a special meal.

"Besides," she added, "after Will talks to the Marshal from Ba Sing Se we plan to leave, so this is the best time to do it! Now where did I put Grandma's special sauce?" said Hay Lin, searching through her backpack.

Hay Lin had gone to the market to pick up a few things for Yan Lin before she was unceremoniously dumped on the Avatar's world, so she possessed some special goodies no one there had ever seen.

"Are you sure about this, Hay Lin?" asked her friend, Taranee.

"Sure I'm sure!" replied the chipper Air Guardian.

"But Peking Duck? That's a major dish, and you don't even do the cooking at your folks' restaurant!" pointed out the ever-sensible Guardian of Fire.

"They'll love it!" said Hay Hay. "How hard can it be? Cooking is cooking! My air powers help, too, since I don't need a pump to separate the skin from the..."

"TMI, Hay!" said Taranee, who didn't want to hear any of the gory details.

"Well, I will have to use one of those turtleduck thingies they have here instead! No biggie! This meal is going to be great! It'll be just like back in China!"

"Hay Lin! Shush!" said Taranee, holding her finger in front of her lips. "Ixnay on the inachay!"

Taranee was worried about affecting the planet's history.

She had a theory that they were in the past of their own world, and anything they did could have major repercussions.

Hay Lin didn't buy it. There were too many differences between the two worlds.

But the similarities were eerie.

And it was the only place they had ever traveled to that called itself 'Earth', like their world.

It certainly was unlike any other planet they had visited - Meridian, Zamballah, Nimbus, etc.

But the distant past? Uh uh!

Although that might explain why they were all scattered around when they journeyed here. Time travel has a way of mixing things up.

"Just don't use that word, okay, Hay Lin?" begged Taranee. "Use 'old country' instead."

Hay Lin complied, although she didn't see the need.

Even if her friend was right, that they were in the past of their own world and their exploits somehow inspired the nymph Xin Jing to create the Heart of Candracar from the Four Dragons (thus taking all of the elemental powers out of the hands of 'benders'), saying 'China' wouldn't change anything!

The whole mission made Taranee nervous.

If they were in the past, anything they do could have disastrous consequences!

She only wanted to get the Heart, get Phobos, and get out, as quick as possible!

Taranee dismissed the idea the Guardians were in a parallel world.

They had never been to one before, and she didn't have any evidence parallel realities even existed.

But the thing that most worried Taranee Cook was that they weren't in the past, but the future!

Those ancient Greek scrolls in Wan Shi Tong's library meant the Avatar's world was once like theirs, until something had happened to it, that's for sure!

And if so, what was the fate of their civilization?

What happened to their world?

To Candracar?

To...the Guardians?

She didn't tell the other girls of her fears. No need to worry them.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe they were in an alternate reality, where world events happened differently than on their planet.

Maybe. It's not inconceivable. She had been wrong before.

Okay, not all that much. But still...

Then Hay Lin snapped the young Guardian out of her reverie.

"Look, Taranee! I found some molasses here! Or, something I could use as a substitute for molasses, anyway!" said the happy as a clam Guardian of Air, holding up the shell-less turtleduck she had triumphantly swathed in molasses - and who had gotten more than a little of the slimy, viscous substance on herself! "Isn't that great?"

"Uh, yeah! Great." replied the hesitant Guardian of Fire, careful not to let any of the dripping goo get on her.

"Taranee? I need to dry it, but don't have half a day. Could you?" asked Hay Lin.

"Sure, Hay Hay! No prob!" replied Taranee, issuing fire from her fingertips to create a wall of flame around the hung duck.

Which really impressed the little ones!

And then young Bao said "Is that how your skin got so dark? Did it get burned?"

Taranee was speechless.

Hay Lin was horrified!

"Bao!! Oh, I'm so sorry, Taranee!" said the ultra contrite Hay Lin.

"No, no, it's okay, Hay Lin!" said the Fire Guardian, regaining her voice. "He's a little kid. He doesn't know any better. This world isn't as diverse as ours, so I could see how he'd think that." said Taranee, who realized that, not only was Cornelia the only natural blonde anyone here had seen, but Will was probably the only redhead, and she was the only black person in, like, _ever_.

"Did I say something bad, Hay Lin?" asked the young boy.

"It's all right, Bao." reassured Taranee, placing her hand on his shoulder and bending down to talk to him eye-to-eye. "Where we're from, people come in all different colors!"

"Really?" replied the youngster.

"Sure! And I'm not 'burnt', or the color of something burned. Let's see, how can I illustrate that?" said Taranee, who knew this was what they called a 'teachable moment'. "Hay, can I have the chocolate sauce?" asked Taranee of her friend.

"But I was saving that for dessert!" pleaded the Air Guardian.

"I won't need much." informed the Fire Guardian.

So Taranee showed the children how her skin was the same color as the brown liquid, and let each of them have a taste.

They never had chocolate before! The kids loved it!

And then Bao said "So your skin tastes good like this cho-co-late?"

"Uh, okay, obviously we're gonna have to work on this!" said the dumbfounded Guardian of Fire, who didn't have a clue how five year-old minds think, while Hay Lin giggled and put the duck in an oven.

"Bao! Are you bothering the nice girls?" said Bao's mother.

"It's okay, Mrs. Chan! Bao thought my skin was burned, and we're just trying to tell him it isn't." said Taranee, filling her in on the situation. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh! I am so sorry!" said Mrs. Chan.

"Why? It's not your fault?" replied Taranee.

"But it is!" said the young mother. "I have told Bao many stories before bedtime, and one is of the Banished Prince!"

"The Banished Prince? I've never heard that one before." stated Hay Lin, thinking of all the tales of the Far East her grandmother told her growing up.

"It is a true story. Of a fire bender, the son of the Fire Lord, who so angered his father that his father marked him with fire, and banished him from his kingdom until he performed an impossible task - to find and return the Avatar, who no one had seen in a hundred years!" elaborated Mrs. Chan.

"His own father burned him and kicked him out until he did the impossible?" commented Taranee Cook. "Man, and I thought my mom had issues!"

"You said the story is true? So this banished prince is real?" said Hay Lin, seeking clarification.

"That is what they say." responded the woman. "His name is Prince Zuko."

"So this Zuko guy's been hunting the Avatar, but, even if he did find him, the Avatar is way powerful, so how could he succeed? And it's all to get back in daddy's good graces? That is so messed up!" said Taranee, speaking from experience with messed-up situations.

"Oh no!" yelled Hay Lin, as she ran back to her dinner preparations. "I forgot the spices!"

Meanwhile, Marshal Han of the Ba Sing Se police force questioned Will Vandom on her and Taranee's actions the night Ba Sing Se burned.

"So your friend Taranee attempted to end the fires that raged through Ba Sing Se?" questioned the policeman. "Why would she do that? More importantly, how?"

"Because we didn't want to see anyone suffer! We're not 'fire benders'! We come from a...far off land." said Will, being careful not to say too much. "We only came to your country to find someone who traveled here from our country."

"And in this 'far off land', your fire benders can control fire?" said the Marshal, seeking more information.

"No. There are no 'fire benders' where we come from. Only Taranee, the Guardian of Fire. She's the only one who commands fire." elaborated Will Vandom, leader of the Guardians.

"You say your friend can control fire. And yet...the fires in the city did not end." pointed out the officer of the law.

"No. They didn't." admitted Will, hanging her head. "It, it was Long Feng and the Dai Li. They wouldn't let her." said Will, the events seared in her brain.

_Flashback: As the great city of Ba Sing Se burned (because a since-departed Prince Zuko couldn't contain the awesome energies of the recently acquired Heart of Candracar), Taranee flew from fire to fire, in an attempt to save the city, while her friend and leader, Will, who had been weakened due to a long imprisonment, watched from below._

One moment, Taranee was ordering the Heart of Candracar-fueled flames to abate, allowing those trapped inside a building to escape.

And the next, angry Da Li agents bended several rocky projectiles at the unsuspecting Taranee, one of which connected with... her head.

Incapacitated, the winged Fire Guardian fell to earth.

"What are you doing??" Will screamed in shock and disgust at the leader of the Dai Li, Long Feng. "She's only trying to help!"

"We do not need her help!" snapped Long Feng. "I was in error before. I thought you two were fire benders. But now I see you for what you truly are: Abominations! No one should be able to control fire with such ease! It's unnatural!"

"You're insane!" Will yelled, as Taranee stirred, but was then surrounded by Dai Li agents. "To put all those people in danger because something offends your precious view of the world? It's crazy!"

"As I said: We do not need her help." said Long Feng, an earth bender of no small note himself, as he bended a wall of earth into a line of wildfire, smothering it.

Long Feng could not allow anyone else to be seen as saviors of the city, or they would question his rule.

His Dai Li set about attacking the fire with their mighty earth powers.

And when they couldn't put out the flames, they bended chutes of earth to the upper ring of Ba Sing Se's skyscrapers, so those trapped inside could slide to safety.

And then...a cry for help from the tower overlooking the river.

A cry for help...from Ju-Dee!

Long Feng had noticed her beauty when she worked for him.

(Indeed, it was his feelings for her that saved her from his wrath, after she failed to control Aang, the Avatar. But that was to happen much later in our tale).

The structure Ju-Dee was in was near collapse!

Quickly, Long Feng bent a series of earthen towers that got larger and larger as it approached Ju-Dee's building.

But before his constructs could reach Ju-Dee's floor, her building gave way, and Ju-Dee tumbled into the air over the river.

Long Feng tried to forge a bridge over the water to catch her, but it was too far! His bridge could only extend so much over the river, before breaking apart due to physics & gravity, falling in pieces into the watery depths!

"No! Ju-Dee!!" screamed Long Feng.

Will saw her plight and, though weak from sickness and captivity, managed to get her rusty wings to fly her over the river, where she collided with the plummeting Ju-Dee!

Will's momentum carried them both to the opposite side of the riverbank, to safety.

Safety for Ju-Dee, that is.

Dai Li agents gathered them both and marched them to Long Feng, who had a heartfelt reunion with his beloved.

"Ju-Dee!" exclaimed Long Feng, wrapping his arms around her. "I thought I'd lost you!"

Long Feng's exhilaration quickly turned to disgust, however, when he looked upon the face of the one who saved the love of his life, and who he owed so much to.

"Get out!" ordered Long Feng.

"What?" said the confused Will Vandom.

"Go! Leave my city! And never return!" he added.

"Taranee?" said Will to her still-groggy friend. "We have to go. Now. Can you fly?"

"I, I guess so." replied Taranee, rubbing her throbbing head where the Dai Li raised a nasty bump. "But what about the fire?"

"We can't do anything about that now, Tara." said Will, sadly. "If we stay here any longer, they'll throw us in prison. And we can't help anyone stuck in a jail cell! Let's go find our friends."

"Okay, Will." said Taranee, acquiescing to Will's wishes, though she felt bad about leaving so many still in trouble.

Will, though, had to give the order to abandon people to their fate, so she felt even worse!

As Taranee towed her still-weak friend through the air and exited the city, the screams of those in need assaulted their ears.

Will tried to block them out, but couldn't.

They haunt her to this day.

It was her greatest failure.

If there were any way to make up for that horrible day, anything at all, she'd do it.

Will's reflections on the past were interrupted by the present.

Marshal Han still had questions.

"This being in the sky that started the fire, you know nothing about him?" asked the Marshal.

"No, sir." answered Will, trying to stay calm so the policeman didn't notice the tremble in her lip when she thought about what this man did with her beloved Heart of Candracar.

"Um hmm. You had never seen this man before?" interrogated the cop.

"No! Never!" said Will, emphatically, as it was the God's honest truth. "I have no idea who he is! I wish I did." Will added, with a sigh. "He hurt so many. I hope you find him, Marshal."

Satisified with the answers he received from his interview subject, Marshal Han packed up his things and left Avatar Town with the information that would clear Will and Taranee of any culpability for the fire.

As for Will, she wondered what the future held for her and her friends.

Because now the Guardians had to search for the man who took the Heart and stop Prince Phobos' plan.

But where to begin? It was a big world, after all.

Maybe splitting up was the best way to accomplish the mission?

She hated the idea of separating from her friends after they just reunited.

But what else could they do?

Will wandered around town for a while and pondered the question, then decided she needed to find the other Guardians so they could discuss it.

Then fate, inescapable fate, intervened and gave Will a second chance to redeem herself for the horrors of the past.

**BOOMMM**

Zuko announced his arrival with a bang, to get everyone's attention and show them he meant business.

"People of Avatar Town!" began the flying, flaming Prince Zuko, as he hung in the air over the crater he had just made in the central courtyard of the large village. "Bring me the Avatar, or your town will be destroyed!!"

Epilogue: Marshal Han returns to the city of Ba Sing Se

Upon his arrival in Ba Sing Se, the Marshal unpacked his things and prepared for bed.

With the sunrise, he would make for his precinct and file his report on Ba Sing Se's fire.

Another, though, had different plans.

"Who's there?" shouted the Marshal, upon realizing he was being watched.

Then a masked agent of the Dai Li jumped into the Marshal's apartment.

"The Dai Li? What are you doing here?? I've done nothing against Ba Sing Se!" stated the nervous policeman.

"Calm yourself, officer." said the confident Dai Li agent. "I am here merely to inform you that when you file your report on the Great Fire, there is to be no mention of flying fire benders or other outsiders. That would upset the people, and so they do not exist. What happened was merely an accident, caused by someone tampering with captured Fire Nation machines."

"What? Y, you can't tell me what to do! I am under orders from the Earth King himself! I have his seal!" said the law enforcer, screwing up his courage and showing the intruder the seal he possessed which established his office of inquiry.

"Really? I have one, too." revealed the Dai Li operative, who held in his hand the seal of the Earth King, also.

"How? You're just a member of the Dai Li??" said the puzzled police officer.

"Also, you will omit any reference to the Dai Li from your report. Have I made myself clear?" said the Dai Li agent, the vague threat not at all vague to the policeman.

"Yes." said the humble Marshal Han, swallowing his pride.

"Very well. Pray we do not have occasion to meet again, Marshal." warned the Dai Li, exiting the officer's apartment and alighting on the earthway, making a quick getaway by bending a chunk of earth through the chute.

When the secretive Dai Li agent thought he was safe and hidden, he took off his mask.

It was Long Feng!

"Yes, there were no outsiders present at the Great Fire", said Long Feng, talking to himself, "and those abominations shall never menace us again!"

_Next:_

_A knock-down, drag-out barn burner of a fight_

_as Will stands alone against Zuko!_

_Is the girl crazy, or what?_

Notes

That whole 'is your skin black because it got burned?' thing was in a newspaper article, so don't blame me! I didn't make it up! Five-year olds really think like that!

From Hay Lin's preparations, it sounds like the Peking Duck she's making is a combination of traditional Chinese and U.K. Chinese methods. So the big question is...roasted or fried? Whichever, I hope she doesn't forget the lotus leaf pancakes! (Although I think Zuko will be a very bad dinner guest, and could really ruin the meal)!

I know I'm not giving Hay Lin much to do in this story (so far). She's getting the light workload. I think it's because there's no Blunk (Irma was the 'Blunk substitute' in one of my other stories). You need some character to keep it cheery so the tale doesn't veer down the angst path. But Hay Lin will get more action when she meets Aang! (Hey, it's not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter!)


	28. The Fire God Attacks, Part 1

Chapter 20: Will To Endure

(The Fire God Attacks, Part 1)

Will never thought it'd end like this.

She always believed that the Guardians would triumph, no matter the odds.

Even while fighting against Phobos and Nerissa, it was never this bad!

Will knew she must look quite the sight, too.

Her costume, torn.

Her wings, crumpled and drooping, half falling off.

Her body, all bruised and banged up, unable to move.

And her face? It must have been way severe! She could barely see out of her left eye. It was probably all swollen, like a prize fighter's.

Worst of all, she couldn't help her friends.

He'd probably go after them next.

And there wasn't anything she could do about it!

As her opponent grasped her fragile neck, she tasted her own blood. She resisted the urge to vomit. Actually, she would have been happy to hurl on her foe. Spit, even! She just didn't have the strength.

Will could feel his hot breath on her as he pulled her closer to him (actually, everything about him was hot!).

And she knew his Candracar-fueled fire would burn her out of existence.

_How did it get to this?_ Will wondered. _How did it get so bad? I did everything I could!_

Her mind raced as she remembered how it started.

When the fiery man from Ba Sing Se appeared (and blew up the center of town), Will, Taranee and Hay Lin gathered together so they could attack the crazed possessor of the Heart of Candracar as a team.

The City Guard reached him first, though, and he laid into them with fireblast after fireblast!

The local constables were barely able to limp away from the manic fire bender!

Angry at this 'welcoming committee', and the Avatar's no-show, the flaming jerk began to throw fireballs all over town!

Soon the coastal town was ablaze, and Will had to make a decision.

"Taranee! You have to put out these fires! We can't let what happened to Ba Sing Se happen here!" ordered Will. "Hay Lin, help Taranee! You can take the air away, suffocating the fires! Plus, you can calm the people. They listen to you. Panic can be more deadly than fire!"

"But, Will, that means you'll be facing that guy all alone!" protested Taranee.

"Not for long. Only until Cornelia and Irma get back." replied the hopeful Will Vandom. "Can you contact them yet?"

"No. They must still be out of range. Or..." said the distraught Guardian of Fire, fearing the worst.

"Don't think like that, Taranee!" said Will, staying positive. "They're okay! They're just out of range, like you said! Now go! I got this guy covered! I already have a plan!"

"Okay, Will!" agreed Taranee, reluctantly, as her wings carried her to the worst of the conflagrations raging through town. Hay Lin had already started urging the people to evacuate in an orderly manner.

Now, it was up to Will.

And she did have a plan.

The way this menace of a man was on fire wherever he went, Will figured (correctly, as it turned out) that he must have been a fire bender before he gained the Heart.

And if he used the Heart like a fire bender, Will reasoned, maybe he had the same weaknesses as a fire bender?

So Will sailed over to the arena and grabbed the rope that had proven so effective against the Fire Nation soldiers.

The manueverability of her wings giving her an advantage in the air, the Energy Guardian was able to dodge the fiery blasts he sent her way.

He was unable to stop her as she flew around and around him, the rope binding his arms and legs!

But, unlike the soldiers, this particular progeny of the Fire Nation could use any moving part of his body to bend fire.

So he breathed down, towards the rope, and a terrific lick of flame shot out of his mouth, incinerated the rope, and continued into the dirt below, blasting dust and earth in all directions!

Some of the dusty shrapnel hit Will, obscuring her vision and making her cough.

When the dust cleared, the burning man was flying directly at her!

Will tried to fly back, out of his way, but he plowed into her and they both crashed into a building!

Taranee heard the noisy destruction caused by their fight, and 'paged' Will.

_Will? _Taranee thought at her, telepathically. _Are you alright?_

_I'm fine, Taranee! _ Will lied. _You work on the fires!_

_Okay, Will! _thought-responded the Fire Guardian.

As for Will, well, if he wanted to get physical, she could, too!

She tried to punch the human fireball with all her Candracar-given might, but the flames around him were hot.

So hot!

She had to pull her fist away before she could even connect with his face!

But he flinched!

Seeing an opening, she thrust her hand into where she thought he kept the Heart!

Her hand burned!

But at least she had...his hand grabbing her arm?

Crap.

He threw her violently into the dirt of the arena.

As she got up, Will wondered if she had any broken bones.

Then she saw something she didn't expect.

The man aflame had gotten into a fighting stance, and motioned to her!

Challenging her to a duel?

Was he crazy?

Or did he think this was 'fun'?

Whatever, he looked like he had done this type of thing before!

She was going to need a new plan.

She devised one as she executed a perfect 'flying kick' (perfect because, she really could fly!)

_Taranee? _thought Will, while dodging his blows.

_Yes, Will? _replied Taranee.

_Here's what I need you to do _thought Will.

The duel continued.

Will, clearly outmatched since she did not have combat training as her opponent obviously did (a few sessions with Caleb didn't count), relied on the power of her wings to add to her strength and speed, and did her level best to avoid his hot hands and flaming feet.

When that didn't work out, Will pulled another rabbit from her hat: She zapped him with electricity!

Caught by surprise, the burning man tumbled to the ground.

Will thought the fight was finally going her way!

Then he got up, and answered lightning with fire!

Running from the fireballs that spelled her doom, Will put in another 'call' to her friend, Taranee.

_Taranee? _thought-called Will. _I could really use our special 'surprise' right about now!_

_On the way! _thought-replied Taranee.

Just when Will was at the end of her rope, and her flaming foe on the cusp of victory, the man of fire hesitated.

He turned to his left and sent a wall of flame in the same direction!

Her concentration broken, Hay Lin became visible, turned, and just missed getting fried by the heat blast!

Her momentum carried her towards the flaming freak, and she reached for the Heart...

She grabbed it!

But not without cost.

"Ow!" she screamed in pain, the Candracar-fueled flame making its mark on her palm.

'Here, Will!" called out Hay Lin to her friend, ignoring her injury so she could toss the Heart of Candracar to its former Keeper.

Will saw it coming towards her as if in slow motion.

After all this time, after all their hardships on this world, to once more possess the…

"NO!" yelled the man, burning brighter and hotter than ever. "It's mine!"

And with that, the Heart altered its trajectory towards Will Vandom and returned to its current Keeper.

_Oh no! _screamed Will to her inner self. _The rules of possession magic! He controls it, so no one can keep it from him!_

(Within certain limits of distance, of course, which was the problem Will had in Ba Sing Se).

Livid at having been tricked by one who he had thought was an honorable opponent, the man of fire redoubled his efforts.

He sent multiple lines of fire throughout the arena!

And though Will and Hay Lin could fly pretty quick, they weren't prepared for his furious assault, especially since he curved the flame behind them and nailed them in the back!

The two Guardians were struck hard!

Down went Will and Hay Lin!

And since Hay Lin was at only half her regular power, she got it pretty bad!

Hay Lin rolled on the ground, writhing in pain!

"Hay Lin!" yelled Will who, despite how wretched she felt, took the initiative against her opponent and tried to take him down.

He easily tossed her off of him.

_This is it! _thought Will, tumbling into the dirt, as the burning man advanced on her and the grounded Hay Lin. _Plan's a bust! Secret weapon's no surprise! He could sense her! Of course! He controls the Heart, and she's powered by the same energies! I'm so dumb!_

Then, the unexpected: The people of Avatar Town leapt to their rescue!

"You leave Hay Lin and her friends alone!" shouted one of the crowd, throwing rocks at the man afire.

"Yeah!" yelled another, joining the others in lobbing stony missiles at the fiery flyer. "You can't have the Avatar!"

"The Avatar?" questioned the flaming fire bender, looking around. "Where?" he said, his fireballs scattering the brave but not suicidal crowd.

Seeking a subject to interrogate, he grabbed a fleeing man.

"Hay Lin! Run!" screamed the villager, ignoring his own safety.

"Answer me!" ordered the burning hot man. "Where is that coward, the Avatar??"

"Right here!" announced the Air Guardian, fighting through the pain and hovering above the terra firma. "Now you leave them alone!"

Then Hay Lin let loose a veritable tornado that blew the flaming man away from the townsman and into the stands!

The Candracar-powered fire bender recovered quickly, however, and was none the worse for wear.

But he was pretty perplexed.

"An air bender? How...??" he said.

Then the burning bender let fly a lick of flame that curved around the arena, aimed right at Hay Lin.

Hay Lin flew up and dodged it, then watched in horror as the flame continued on its path - towards the crowd!

"Run!" yelled Hay Lin, flying between the fire and her would-be protectors.

The people successfully got out of the way of the blast, but Hay Lin wasn't as lucky.

And down she went, for the second (and maybe last?) time.

Then the angry man afire would brook no more opposition.

Corralling a member of the crowd, he demanded to know "Who was this girl, and where was the real avatar?"

Fearing for his life, the villager spilled all.

"That's, that's Avatar Hay Lin! She's not the real avatar, but she was an air bender, so the former Mayor decided to call her the Avatar for our festival!" confessed the resident of Avatar Town.

"Former mayor?" questioned the flaming hot fire bender.

"H, he was arrested for fraud!" admitted the frightened townie.

"Unbelievable!" said the very p.o.ed guy who was hot under the collar (and everywhere else!) "My luck is running true to form! Did you know about this?" he asked a boy sitting in the stands.

Then Will, still recovering from her fight and tending to her fallen friend, realized the boy had been watching the entire melee!

"No, of course not! I'm as surprised as you!" replied the boy. "Um, if it's not too much trouble, could you explain why you need the Avatar so badly? I thought you wanted to end the war."

Angry at being questioned, the burning man's flame briefly flared higher and hotter than before!

"Uh, I'm sorry! It's none of my business!" said the trembling teen.

"That's alright." said the now-calm Keeper of the Heart. "Everyone questions their fate. Why should you be any different?" he said, thinking of his own past, and how he had challenged his father's decision-making.

"If you must know", he continued, "I need the Avatar so I may deliver him to the Fire Lord. Once I do that, I can depose the Fire Lord, take his throne, and end the war!"

"Oh." replied the surprised young man, who hadn't expected an answer. (And who had no idea who he was dealing with).

To depose the Fire Lord and end the war. That was the stated reason, yes.

But the flaming fire bender had other, shadier motives as well.

(Beyond 'restoring his honor', that is).

The Avatar, once he had mastered all of the elements, was the only one who could prevent the "Fire God" from ruling the world!

(Of course, he only wanted to rule the world to ensure the peace. But many, like the Avatar, would not see it that way, and so must be eliminated before they posed a threat).

And then there was the reason he would never voice: He hated the Avatar. I mean, really, really, REALLY hated the Avatar!

"The Avatar is still hiding in the Earth Kingdom! Go, and spread the word that the Avatar stands in the way of peace if he does not face the Fire God!" he said to his lackey.

As soon as the boy, Jet, left the arena, the Fire God turned to what was left of the cowering crowd, who were trying to shield the girls.

"For deceiving me, you shall all pay!" he intoned, hesitating for a moment as he considered their punishment.

"This guy's not dealing with a full deck!" said Will to her stricken companion. "Hay, can you fly?"

"No. It still hurts." replied Hay Lin who, at half power, didn't recover as fast as Will or Taranee.

"Can you at least make a good strong wind? I have a plan, but I'm going to need a boost!" said the leader of the Guardians.

And so the Guardian of Air, while grounded, waved her arm and a gale-force wind slammed into the violent Keeper of the Heart.

He fought to keep his balance, and might have won that battle, too.

But then the storm delivered another express package right to him: Will, her wings riding the force of the wind!

Quickly she grabbed the flaming Keeper's hands, extending them out of his personal 'fire field', and flew off with him.

She held his hands tight, and pointed away from her body, so he couldn't shoot any fireballs at her.

"What are you doing?" the Candracar-fueled fire bender demanded. "You know you can't stop me!"

"Doesn't mean I can't try!" replied the leader of the Guardians.

"Try? Try what?" wondered the new Keeper of the Heart. "What could you possibly do that could hurt me?" he said, nonchalantly.

Then Will released her captive, and he plummeted into the quarry just outside town. The quarry that was used to mine all the stone the town needed to construct their temples and other grand buildings. Now, it was nothing more than a big, rocky hole in the ground.

A big hole in the ground with a flaming man crashing into it, that is!

His impact with the stone floor of the quarry raised a cloud of dust.

A cloud he then strode out of, untouched and unfazed.

"That's it?" he questioned Will. "That was your big plan??" he sneered.

"No. I wanted someplace away from everybody. So I could do...this!" announced the Guardian of Energy.

Some say Taranee, Guardian of Fire, who could set anything ablaze, was the most powerful of the Guardians of Candracar.

Others say the mightiest of them was Cornelia, the Earth Guardian, who could split the ground asunder with but a thought.

True, both had awesome abilities.

But Will Vandom the Energy Guardian, their leader, was really the most powerful of them all.

So powerful, in fact, that the true extent of her abilities was hidden from everyone, including her, until just recently, when the Council of Candracar deemed her ready to handle the knowledge.

Will contained so much raw energy that, with one careless act, she could endanger anyone around her!

The Council could have kept her in the dark on this fact about her energy abilities, thus saving all from the potentially deadly mood swings of a teenage girl (because Will had to know about the potential of her powers before she could utilize them).

But the Oracle insisted that Will had proven herself, and was capable of great things.

And so, they told her.

They told her things about her powers not even other Keepers of the Heart, such as Nerissa, knew, because they had never reached the level of responsibility and proficiency that Will had attained.

Yes, her powers were a difficult burden, but a burden she agreed was hers and hers alone.

She never thought she'd ever have to unleash the incredible energies contained within her Guardian body.

Until now.

Will let loose all of the energy she possessed, energy collected by the aurameres back on Candracar from all of Infinity and sent directly to her.

Energy present at the very beginning of creation (and, ultimately, at its end) issued forth from Will's body in an unstoppable wave, expanding until it hit her target, the man with the purloined Heart of Candracar.

But the wave of destruction didn't stop there. It continued until it re-shaped the entire quarry, and kept on going!

Finally, the energy wave petered out just short of the town's walls, and dissipated.

The blast was as huge and destructive as a hydrogen bomb, the key difference being that its force was entirely contained within the quarry.

Will lay in the rubble, wondering how she was still alive.

She knew she was alive, because of all the pain she was in.

But it was worth it, if she got the creep!

However…

"Nice try!" said the new Keeper of the Heart, grabbing Will. "But it wasn't good enough!"

_No! No! _ thought Will. _How??_

Then she realized - she was using the power of Candracar against one who commanded its Heart! Her plan was doomed before it began! So stupid!

All this Will remembered, as she waited for the crazed fire bender to end her life.

"Why do you care so much what I do?" asked the curious burning man, clearly impressed with Will's stubborn determination. "I didn't have a problem with you. You could have gone on your way, not gotten involved and not suffered."

"C, couldn't do that." Will rasped, her voice almost as broken as her body. "The Heart you have is…my responsibility."

"Not anymore." replied the flaming fire bender, as he prepared to deliver the blow that would end any interference with his plans.

Will sweated the heat. Being this close to him was like being in a sauna.

Up close, she could see through the flames that covered his face. He had a huge scar around his left eye.

She thought it'd be the last thing she'd ever see.

But she figured she wouldn't have to take the heat too much longer.

She barely had time to get off one last prayer.

_Power of Candracar…protect me! _she thought.

And then…

An amazing thing happened.

The fire bender's flame was blocked…by an energy field!

A field that came from the Heart itself!

"What the??" said the burning man, terribly confused.

He banged and banged on the energy field in frustration, but it wouldn't budge!

It surrounded Will, protecting her.

_The Heart! _ thought Will. _I never willingly gave up it up, so by the rules of possession magic, I still command its power!_

Thinking fast, Will ordered the Heart to hold the new Keeper.

Tethers of energy rolled out of the Heart and bound the stunned fire bender in an unbreakable grip!

Finally, Will was winning!

Then…

"Stop!" ordered the Keeper. "I command you now! Let..go!" he cried, breaking the bonds of Candracan energy.

"A valiant effort, but doomed to failure!" intoned the somber fire bender, as he grasped Will by the neck. "I was going to let you off with a punishment before but, clearly, you're too dangerous to keep around! Know you met your end with honor." 

_This was it! _ Will thought, as he grew the flame in his open hand, the flame that was her doom. _The only thing I regret is not seeing my friends one last time. But at least they're safe._

Then…

** KRASH **

A flowerpot busted on top of the flaming man's head!

Startled, he dropped Will, who sprawled in the dirt.

"Oops! Sorry!" said Hay Lin, floating in the sky above the quarry. "Okay, not really!"

"You'll pay for that!" threatened (promised?) the enraged bender of the Heart.

"Hay Lin, what are you doing??" yelled Will Vandom. "This guy's crazy!"

"Taranee, now!" shouted the hovering Air Guardian.

"Who?" said the puzzled scion of the Fire Lord.

"Someone who can fight Fire God with Fire Guardian!" exclaimed Taranee, shooting fireball after fireball at the surprised fire bender. "Let's see how you do against someone with your own power!"

Taranee had put out the last of the fires menacing the people of Avatar Town, and after Hay Lin filled her in on the unique danger posed by the Heart of Candracar-powered, self-proclaimed 'Fire God', they had devised a plan to stop him and save their friend.

Distract, and fight fire with fire!

Taranee's furious fusillade of fiery flameballs caught the Fire God off guard, and the sheer force of each mighty blow drove him back so speedily that he smashed into the wall of the quarry!

"And stay down! There's more where that came from!" boasted the Guardian of Fire. "Are you okay, Will?"

"I've been better." admitted the Energy Guardian. "But I don't know if we can beat him! Since he has the Heart, he's practically unstoppable!"

"Does that mean we're giving up, Will?" asked the Air Guardian.

"No. But we'd be in real danger if he knew what he was doing!" replied Will.

"What do you mean?" asked Taranee.

"I mean he could turn our powers off!" revealed Will Vandom. "This guy's trouble! When I got close to him, I could see he was scarred really bad. Who knows how that affected his mind?"

"He's scarred, he's a fire bender and he's after the Avatar? Taranee, you don't think..?" wondered Hay Lin.

"That he's the Banished Prince? Could be!" shot back Taranee.

"Who?" said the confused Will.

"Prince Zuko!" Taranee and Hay Lin replied in unison.

"So, you know who I am!" announced Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, striding back into the center of the quarry. "So what? You won't have an opportunity to throw my shame back into my face! Not after I dispose of you 'Guardians'!"

"Bring it...ah!" gasped Taranee, dodging Zuko's fiery assault.

The maddened Prince Zuko bent a series of Candracar-powered fireballs at the Guardian of Fire!

Taranee tried to deflect them, but she couldn't control his fire since they both had the same source of power.

It was a fiery dogfight!

Zuko shot his flame at Taranee, and Taranee returned fire.

But Zuko the Fire God used his Fire Nation combat training to block Taranee's offensive efforts.

Unable to evade Zuko's attack, Taranee formed a shield of fire that Zuko's balls of flame bounced off of, but Zuko wouldn't give up!

He kept on coming, getting closer and closer, his fireballs crashing into Taranee's shield with ever-increasing intensity!

Finally, Zuko was upon her, and rammed through her shield with such force Taranee was knocked into the dirt!

Then he sent his flame at the defenseless girls, striking them all down!

"You're through, Guardians!" exclaimed the Fire God to the defeated heroes of Candracar. "Your time is over! You'll never challenge me again!"

"What about me? Don't I get to play, too?" said Irma, leaping onto the back of the amazed fire bender. "You'll give me a complex, ignoring me like that!" she joked.

"How did you jump on my back?? The flames should have kept you off!" said the horribly confused son of the Fire Lord, while trying, and failing to shake her off of him.

"Same way I survived your little forest fire!" replied the upbeat Irma Lair, not budging an inch and, in fact, wrapping her legs around him to grasp all the harder. "By constantly covering myself in water to replace the water your flames steam away!"

"You're a water bender?" wondered Zuko. "But how could you do that??" he said, flying up in another fruitless effort to dislodge her.

"Not a water 'bender'! I'm the Water Guardian! Feel that?" said Irma, her palms on his cheeks.

"W, what are you doing to me??" cried Zuko, pain growing inside him.

Pain so great he couldn't stay aloft, and was forced to land!

"Creating water inside your body! Do you know what happens to people who drink way too much water?" revealed the Guardian of Water. "It's kind of like that, times ten!"

"That sounds like water intoxication, Will!" said Taranee Cook, watching the drama unfold but unsure what to do.

"That's not good, is it?" replied Will Vandom.

"No. It's bad. Real bad!" said the way worried Taranee.

"I-Irma? What are you doing?" called Will to her friend. "You could…"

"Nothing I haven't done before!" admitted a suddenly serious Irma Lair, as her fingers dug into Prince Zuko's face and wouldn't let go, while Zuko convulsed in agony. "They say the second time is easier! Guess they were right!"

Will couldn't believe it!

They were about to win, which was great. Super, even.

But they also were about to lose their friend!

_Next:_

_The Guardians find out what Irma did!_

_Plus:_

_That whole Zuko fight thing._

_But first:_

_If Irma survived, what happened to Cornelia?_

_Where the heck is she??_

Notes

I realize I'm pushing it with the whole 'Will has the power to explode like a hydrogen bomb' thing, but if you're not going to explore new uses of your heroes' superpowers, what's the point of writing about superheroes? It's possible. And it's not like she would use it a lot. This was an extreme situation.

Also, water intoxication is real. It was recently in the news when a radio station had a water-drinking contest .


	29. Interlude 7: Cornelia and Irma

Interlude Seven: Cornelia and Irma

After the fire started by Prince Zuko burned itself out, naught remained of the forest but a few charred pieces of wood and embers.

Then, a stirring in the ground.

The dirt on the floor of the forest heaved itself up, and out came two girls, caked in mud but alive and well: Cornelia Hale and Irma Lair, the Earth Guardian and Water Guardian, respectively!

"Cough! If you hadn't thought to cover us in water as the flames came closer, Irma..." started Cornelia, trying to breathe in air not full of smoke.

"I know! And if you hadn't thought to dig us a tunnel, we'd be goners!" said Irma, finishing the thought. "Now let's hightail it back to town! That fire guy is probably causing trouble for the others!"

"Oh no!" yelled Cornelia, upon seeing the devastated forest.

She froze in her tracks, unable to process the enormity of what Zuko had done.

"Come on, Corny! We have to go!" prodded Irma, eager to get back to their friends.

"I can't, Irma!" Cornelia finally responded. "They need me!"

"Who needs you? The plants and trees? Our friends need us!" said the irritated Water Guardian.

"You don't know that!" said the argumentative Cornelia. "If the others needed us, Taranee would contact us telepathically!"

"Maybe we're out of range for her? I don't know! But we have to get back! That Jet guy said he was going to the festival, and the fire dude took him away, so let's go!" demanded Irma.

"That 'fire dude' hurt the forest so badly, Irma, I can feel their pain!" revealed Cornelia. "It's like they're screaming in my head! I have to help them!"

Unseen by Cornelia and Irma (because they were so wrapped up in their own fight), the monstrous spirit form of the forest, Hei Bai, raged at his loss, and prepared to strike Avatar Town once the sun set.

"So you put some plants before your friends? Nice!" said the sarcastically abrasive Irma Lair. "Let me know when the Guardians rate higher than a fern!"

"That's not what I'm saying at all, Irma!" replied Cornelia. "Don't question my loyalty to our friends! They mean everything to me!"

"Yeah? Doesn't sound like it! OOh, I'm a poor little plant, fix my ouchie boo-boos!" jeered Irma.

"At least the forest knows enough to ask for my help! Unlike someone I could name!" said the tart-tongued Guardian of Earth.

Irma was shocked by the anger in Cornelia's voice, and what it revealed regarding Cornelia's true feelings towards Irma: That, as a friend, Cornelia found Irma to be a pain the posterior, and not worth the effort, anyway!

At least, that was how Irma interpreted Cornelia's comment, and so Irma turned to leave.

"If that's the way you feel, then fine! I'll go back by myself!" said the proud Irma Lair.

"Irma! Wait! I didn't mean..!" said the apologetic Earth Guardian.

But Irma didn't look back, and instead hurried her pace.

"Dammit!" said Cornelia, who regretted that the words ever left her lips.

But she didn't regret it enough to change her plans.

For Cornelia Hale, who had spent much time of late with those unworthy of her friendship, and those who couldn't respond to human emotions, forgot, just a bit, how to deal with people. Especially difficult, complicated people like Irma.

But plants? Plants were much easier to understand.

And so she resumed tending to the injured forest.

"There, there, little fella!" said Corny to a burned flower. "It'll be all right!" she said, as she touched it and made it grow back to its full, undamaged pre-fire condition.

_Next:_

_Irma bends water, and uses it to heal._

_Sorry. Change that._

_I meant 'Irma goes around the bend and uses water like a heel'!_

_Oh, I'm so nasty!_


	30. The Fire God Attacks, Part 2

Chapter 21: Fire & Water: Mix or No?

(The Fire God Attacks, Part 2)

_And now, the exciting conclusion to Act II of W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar_

"Irma, you can't do that!" pleaded Hay Lin. "It's wrong!"

"And what was he going to do you? To all of us?" challenged the Water Guardian, not loosening her grip on the helpless, pain-racked Prince Zuko, the steam arising from the mixing of the conjoined pair's elemental energies making for quite the eerie sight.

"Irma, what, what are you talking about?" asked the _extremely_ concerned Will Vandom. "What do you mean - 'the second time is easier'?" she said, trying to understand just what the heck her friend thinks she's doing.

"I killed a guy, okay!" confessed Irma Lair. "I used my powers on him and he died!"

"NO!" cried a shocked Hay Lin.

"Oh my G..." uttered the near-speechless Taranee Cook.

"But, Irma..." began the leader of the Guardians, Will, searching for the right words to forestall Irma's rash actions. "...If you had killed someone, you would have lost your Guardian powers! Let's talk about this...after you let Zuko go."

"I..." said the wavering Water Guardian, almost swayed by Will's words.

Almost.

"...I can't." said Irma.

She didn't release her hold on Prince Zuko.

She couldn't.

She deserved to suffer for her crimes, yes, but she couldn't put her friends in danger!

Then...

"Irma? Guys? What's going on?" said the newly arrived Cornelia Hale.

"This fire bender Zuko who stole the Heart was wiping the floor with us, then...then Irma jumped on him and threatened to kill him because she said she'd done it before!" summarized Hay Lin, not quite believing the words coming out of her mouth.

"What? It can't be!" replied the stunned Earth Guardian. "Irma, you have to stop! You can't do this!"

"What do you care?" said the angry Irma. "You hate me! Why'd you come back, anyway? I thought your precious plants were more important to you!"

"I don't hate you! Sure, you may drive me crazy sometimes, but what friends don't?" replied Cornelia. "And I came back because someone helped me see what was really important."

_Flashback:_

_At Cornelia's urging, new growth had sprouted in the forest. _

_What had once been burned and barren, now overflowed with row after row of saplings and abundant groundcover._

_Cornelia had stayed because she knew how the plants felt._

_Imagine her surprise, then, when they 'asked' how she felt!_

_Even on the living plant world of Zamballah, the vegetation hadn't been as direct as this!_

_"How do I feel? Terrible!" responded the Guardian of Earth. "I let my girls down when I got involved with some psycho criminal. Now, because of me, we're all on the run from the Fire Nation! And I can't even help my best friend! Everything I say comes out wrong!" _

_'You need to tend your own garden' said the voice of the Green in Cornelia's head._

_"Tend my own garden?" said Cornelia, considering the words. "You're right" she shouted, realizing it meant she needed to look after her friends. _

_"You'll be okay?" she asked the Spirit of the forest. _

_'Because of you, we grow faster and stronger than before. Soon, our branches, flowers and shoots will be more numerous than ever. All thanks to you.' said the telepathic Spirit._

_"No, thank you!" said the grateful Cornelia Hale._

_"Give my best to the seedlings!" she said, as she waved goodbye._

_Leaving the forest, Cornelia turned around for one more look at the re-grown vegetation and thought she saw an image of a giant panda bear._

_But then the vision was gone, and so was she._

_Nearing town, Cornelia could 'hear' the plants were in distress._

_"Hey! Hey! One at a time!" she implored them._

_"Ive got to find a better way of doing this 'greenspeaking' ", said Corny, as she bent down to place her palm on the ground. Then the plants told her of the difficulties of their cousins in town, difficulties caused by a fire bender!_

_"Oh no!" said Cornelia, as she hurried into town. "Irma was right!"_

_Then she ran into someone leaving Avatar Town...Jet!_

_"Oh! Hi, Pla-, I mean, Cornelia!" said the nervous ex-rebel._

_"I don't have time for you, Jet!" said the annoyed Earth Guardian, raising her hand to call upon her power._

_"Wait!" yelled Jet, holding his arms in front of him in a futile attempt to shield himself from Cornelia's fury. "Don't..!"_

"And what's important is all of you guys! Don't do this, Irma! Please!" begged Cornelia. "I couldn't bear to lose you...any of you...because of this 'Zuko'!"

Her words reached a still tender part of Irma's heart, a part that had remained untouched by the recent bitterness and recriminations she had experienced.

"Maybe you're right, Corny." said Irma, softening.

"Of course I'm right, silly!" replied the beaming Cornelia, pleased something she said had gotten through.

And Irma eased off, just a bit, on her captive.

It was all Prince Zuko needed.

His Heart-empowered body had subconsciously been trying to correct its elemental imbalance, and it had finally succeeded.

"Guukt!" said Zuko as his insides retched, and he threw up the water that had been building up in his body.

Distracted by this gross display, Irma was thrown off his back by the Prince, who had recovered the use of some of his faculties.

Zuko was still pretty weak, though, and backed away from the Guardians.

"Great! We got Irma to stop her mad killing spree, now we just have to beat the guy we couldn't before!" said the suddenly sarcastic Taranee, sarcasm being about the only sane response to events as crazy as this. "What do we do now, Will?

" 'Mad killing spree'? Hey! I was just trying to protect..! Wait. Is that what I sound like when I make jokes?" asked the more self-aware Irma Lair.

"Yes." answered Cornelia.

"Irma had the right idea..." commented Will.

"I did??" said the shocked Guardian of Water.

"Yes, you did. But your execution of the idea was way wrong!" pointed out the leader of the Guardians. "An internal assault is the way to go!"

"I see where you're going with this!" exclaimed the brainy Taranee. "We know his name now, and that's supposed to be powerful stuff when it comes to magic."

"It's pretty big in warfare, too!" said the tactically-minded Guardian leader. "Hay Lin! He hates the Avatar, who's an air bender, so fly around him! That'll distract him and probably get him mad, so he'll be more likely to make mistakes!" barked Will.

"On it!" said Hay Lin.

"But stay away from him! He's still dangerous!" ordered the Guardian of Energy. "Taranee, I need you to try that thing you were going to do to Azula."

"You mean 'turning off' his fire bending?" asked the Guardian of Fire.

"Right! That's probably how he accesses the power of the Heart, through his own elemental abilities. So if we can get rid of those…" hinted Will Vandom.

"Gotcha!" replied the Fire Guardian.

"Cornelia, I need you to hold him with your vines! He'll probably try to book when the going gets tough, and I don't want to track him down again!" stated the leader of the Guardians.

"Sounds good!" said the Guardian of Earth.

"And me, boss?" asked Irma, fully expecting to be shut out of the action.

"I need you to incapacitate him again, Irma, but not so lethal this time, okay?" asked Will, walking a fine line between supporting a teammate and keeping her in line.

"Sure! I can do that." said Irma, relieved that she was still a member of the team.

"What about you, Will?" wondered Taranee.

"While all of you are occupying his attention, I'm going to see if I can seize control of the Heart again! Maybe I can get it to tele-transport us and it far away from here! Then we won't have to worry about this Zuko guy stealing it back!" said Will.

"Sounds like a plan! Let's do it!" said the encouraged Guardian of Fire.

"I heard you can't beat air benders!" taunted Hay Lin, flying just out of reach of the obsessed Prince. "Is that true? Hmm...I guess it is!"

"If my head wasn't pounding, I'd show you just what I can do!" shouted Zuko, as he weakly lobbed a few lines of flame at her.

Then...

"Hey! What the..!" Zuko yelped, as his flame died out.

"You!!" he screamed at Taranee.

"Yep! Just little 'ol me, the Guardian of Fire!" said Taranee.

"You think that's going to stop me?" Zuko sneered.

"Maybe not, but she sure will! Now, Corny!" urged the Fire Guardian.

"Huh? Plants??" gasped the Prince, as the Earth Guardian's vines grew rapidly around him and held him fast to the earth.

"You think you've beaten me?" challenged Zuko. "All I have to do is focus on my power jewel..."

"You think we'd give you that chance? Go, Irma!" exclaimed Cornelia.

Helpless, the Prince of the Fire Nation had no choice but to submit to the pain caused by the Water Guardian as she caused his anti-element, water, to build up inside his body!

He desperately tried to access the power of the Heart to gain some relief from his predicament, but found someone else had the same idea!

Will!

Prince Zuko was losing!

About to suffer another crushing defeat!

And all he had worked for, the long years spent searching for the Avatar to regain his honor, all that would be lost!

The shame was unbearable!

"**No!!!**"he cried out, in pain and frustration.

In the Heart, something clicked.

Something Will had tried earlier with the jewel, Zuko had now unlocked.

And a force field of Candracan energy flowed from the Heart, expanding so fast around the desperate Prince it knocked all the Guardians (and vines) away from him!

Freed from his tormentors, and with the energy field gone, the exhausted Prince Zuko stumbled around the quarry.

"Have to...get away." he muttered, not realizing he was again commanding the power of the Heart.

Or that he had, with Will's unwitting help, unlocked another feature of the fabled Heart of Candracar: tele-transportation!

In a flash of light, Zuko vanished!

"Uhhh..." began the dumbfounded Will Vandom, stunned at the thought that maybe her own efforts to tele-transport had helped Zuko do the same.

"Not good!" said the worried Taranee Cook.

"Ah, it doesn't matter!" said the now chipper Irma Lair. "We kicked his butt five ways to Sunday! We have his number now! All we have to do is find him!"

"But how do we do that? This world's a big place!" commented Will.

"What about scrying?" offered the upbeat Hay Lin.

"Yeah!" agreed Taranee. "That could work!"

"Don't forget the Avatar!" suggested Cornelia Hale. "Zuko's after him, right? So if we find the Avatar, I bet we find Zuko, too!"

"All great ideas!" said the clear-headed leader of the Guardians. "That leaves us with only one small issue: Irma." added the serious Will Vandom.

"Ulp" gasped the Guardian of Water.

Irma then explained what happened with the soldier.

How, while posing as a water bender and using her powers for personal gain, she was asked to heal an injured Earth Kingdom warrior.

And how it had all gone horribly, horribly wrong.

"You probably don't want me on the team anymore, so as soon as we get back, I'll ask the Oracle to find a replacement for me!" said the contrite Water Guardian, head bowed in shame.

"But, Irma, you were only trying to help the poor man!" pointed out long-time friend Hay Lin. "That's got to count for something! Like Will said, if you had used your powers for the wrong reasons, you would have lost them!"

"Thoughts like that help me sleep at night." replied Irma, with a heavy heart. "But after I wake up..."

"Excuse me?" said Cornelia, voicing what everyone else was thinking, but wouldn't dare say. "That's it? Irma, you don't know if he really did die, or if you even caused his death??" said Cornelia, in disbelief. "And you call me a drama queen!" added the smiling Guardian of Earth, trying to minimize the problem.

"Shut up!" yelled the upset Irma Lair. "You weren't there! You didn't see him, or, or hear his last gasp!"

"I'm sorry, Irma! I didn't mean it like that!" regretted Cornelia Hale. "I know you've been through a lot. We all have!"

"Yeah? Not like me!" said the scornful Irma.

"You think you're the only one who made a mistake?" lectured the Earth Guardian. "I, I got involved with a psycho who was going to put a lot of people in danger, and I was going to help him do it, if I hadn't gotten lucky and overheard his plans! Not to mention that, because of me, we all have to hide from the Fire Nation!"

"Big deal!" scoffed Irma. "We got the Fire Nation mad at us all by ourselves when we whipped Princess Azula's butt!"

"You and Cornelia aren't the only ones who've made mistakes, Irma." said the leader of the group.

"What do you mean, Will?" said the curious Taranee.

"True Confession time. You see this quarry?" said Will, motioning toward the huge hole blasted into the floor of the pit, and which had obliterated everything within a 100-foot radius. "I did that."

"You?? B, but I thought Zuko..." began Hay Lin.

"And I was perfectly happy to let you go on thinking that." admitted Will. "But I was wrong. You should know. You should know exactly how dangerous I am! I'm like a bomb!"

"When did you get power like that, Will?" asked the Guardian of Fire.

"According to the Oracle, I always had it. But he only told me the last time I visited Candracar, which was a few weeks ago, because he said I was finally 'ready' to handle it." confessed Will. "I think he may have been wrong, though. Which sounds terrible, I know, because when has he ever been wrong? But, really, look at what I did!" she said, pointing to the area of the blast that almost reached the walls of the town.

"Why didn't you tell us?" said Cornelia, who really needed to know the answer, as she felt betrayed, just a little bit.

"Because I never thought we would ever face a menace like this Zuko!" replied Will. "I mean, when have we ever? The bad guys we faced were bad, sure, but at least they were manageable!"

That explanation satisfied Cornelia and the other girls, but the discussion continued.

"It's okay, Will!" consoled Hay Lin. "You were able to control it!"

"This time, sure. But without the Heart, who knows how much longer I can do that?" said the Energy Guardian. "Our elemental powers are stronger on this world. Have you noticed what Taranee can do? Not to mention you three, and you're not even at full power!"

"You know, I always wondered why it seemed as if I held back, or why my power developed so slowly. Not like you guys! You had your powers from day one!" continued the leader of the Guardians. "I guess now we know. And now this 'Prince Zuko' possesses power similar to mine! What a nightmare!"

"It just makes it more important than ever we get the Heart back!" stated the confident Taranee. "All of us!" she added, looking around at the other girls. "And I have a confession, too."

"Oh, not your theory we traveled into the past!" moaned the Guardian of Water.

"Worse! I think we're in the future!" replied the Fire Guardian.

Taranee's comment elicited screams of "No!" and stares of disbelief from the other Guardians.

"Hear me out! If this is an 'alternate reality', where is Candracar? We're supposed to be Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions, so I think this dimension would qualify as one of them!" said the scientific Taranee. "But no one's heard a peep out of the Council! Why? I know we don't have the Heart of Candracar but, even so, they should be able to pop in! If you're like me, you've asked for their help at some point, but have we gotten an answer? No!"

"There could be worlds beyond their known Veils!" speculated Cornelia. "It isn't proof we're in the future, or the past, of our Earth!"

"Except I saw scrolls in Wan Shi Tong's Library that no one's seen on our world for thousands of years! I didn't tell you that before!" revealed the Fire Guardian. "Where did they come from? I've seen more of this world than any of you, and I can tell I saw no Europeans, who would have created the scrolls I saw, or even any Africans! Something happened to this world, and I don't like it!"

"Now that you mention it, the weird animals here - Catgators. Turtleducks. Wolfbats. Sabretooth Moose Lions! - do seem vaguely atomic mutant-ish. Although possum chicken does taste pretty good!" commented the less-than-serious Irma Lair.

"Just don't mention the Spider Bats or Spider Snakes!" giggled Cornelia. "Taranee would really freak out if she saw those!"

"Laugh it up, you two! But I'm telling you, there's something way wrong about this world, and I don't think we belong here!" scolded Taranee Cook.

"They're not...laughing at you, Taranee." said Will, trying to paper over any possible rifts in her team before they become gaping chasms. "They're just dealing with things in their own way."

"What she said." added Corny. "How about you, Hay Lin? All of us have confessed to mistakes we made! Wouldn't want to leave you out!"

"Well, I, I already told you it was wrong of me to act like I was the Avatar!" replied the Guardian of Air. "Remember?"

"So you did! See, Irma, we all make mistakes! That's no reason to quit being a Guardian!" said the rational Will Vandom.

"Nice try, Will!" said the caustic Irma. "But my mistake was way worse!"

"How about this, then:" argued Cornelia Hale. "We need you on our team because without you, we'd be nothing! Think about it, Irma! You were right about Azula. You were right about Zuko."

"Yeah! If it wasn't for your 'internal assault' idea, we never would have figured out how to beat him!" added Taranee. "It's not like it was your fault he learned how to tele-transport. It was still a solid battle plan!"

"And if it wasn't for you, Irma, I'd probably still be 'Miss Avatar' and working for Madam Wong!" pointed out the grateful Hay Lin.

"Thanks, guys, really, but I still don't know if I deserve to be a Guardian." said Irma.

"Look, Irma, the fact of the matter is, we need you for this mission!" said the Guardian leader. "After we're done here, we'll try to find out what happened to that soldier. Then, after we get back to our world, you can decide for yourself whether you want to continue to be a member of this team, and we won't stop you! But until then, you're a Guardian! Deal?"

"Besides, how will we do our scrying without you?" added Hay Lin.

"When you put it that way? Sure!" said Irma, extending her hand to shake on it. "Looks like I'm a Guardian again!"

The handshake turned into a pat on the back, which morphed into a group hug, the other Guardians ecstatic they got their elemental 'sister' back!

"I'm glad we got that resolved!" stated the pleased Cornelia Hale.

But it wasn't resolved. Not really. Not in Irma's mind, anyway. But she didn't want to worry her friends any more, so she went along with what they wanted.

Occasionally, she would let her true feelings slip.

Walking back to town, the Guardians saw fireworks exploding in the sky.

"Wow! Look at the fireworks!" said Hay Lin. "Things are looking a lot better already!" said the hopeful air sprite.

"Actually, those aren't fireworks, Hay Lin. Those are earthworks!" corrected Mr. Chan.

"Earthworks?" said the puzzled Taranee.

"The new Town Council felt bad about how the former mayor kicked the contestants out of town, so they invited the earth benders back! They were so happy about it, they decided to celebrate with some earthworks!" Mr. Chan informed them.

"Hey, how about that! A happy ending! For some people, anyway!" said Will.

"Yeah! Too bad that Jet guy got away!" said Irma.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that!" said the cryptic Cornelia.

_Outside town, Jet was stuck in the ground, 'planted' there by Cornelia. Only his head was visible, and around his neck was a sign that read:_

_"Prisoner of the Plant Spirit - Do Not Free - Only Feed Leechie Nuts"_

_In front of him, the bowl containing his leechie nuts was being raided by forest animals._

_"Hey!" he yelled at them as they stole his nuts. "Oh, man!"_

As the Guardians watched the earthworks detonate in the sky (actually, the rocks crashed into each other, and broke into zillions of little pieces), Cornelia noticed something on Irma's arm.

"Hey, Irma, did that Zuko guy burn you?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it! My Guardian abilities should help me recover from it soon enough! Besides, it's good practice for where I'm going!" said the deadpan Irma, obviously referring to 'the bad place' for damned souls.

"Stop that!" said Cornelia, annoyed that Irma was still on her 'I did something bad and deserve to be punished' kick.

"Joking. Ha." replied Irma, lying to her friend.

"Oh! Sometimes I can't tell when you're serious or not! You drive me crazy, Irma Lair, you know that?" said the amused Corny.

"Sorry. But someone's got to give you a hard time, so it might as well be me!" said the sarcastic Irma, covering up her true feelings.

"Oh! Guys! I almost forgot the Peking Duck! Come on! You're going to love it!" said Hay Lin, urging her friends to join her for dinner.

But after they sat down for the meal...

"Fried?? You fried Peking duck? Everyone knows it's supposed to be roasted!" said the miffed Taranee.

"B, but that's how Grandma makes it!" said Hay Lin, upset her friend didn't like the special meal she prepared.

"And I thought you didn't have anything to confess?" added Taranee, her smile and tone of voice indicating she was only having fun with Hay Lin.

Everyone laughed.

The Guardians were back, better than ever.

Things were looking up for the first time in a long time.

Right?

Irma laughed right along with the others, and if she had to force a ha ha or a hee hee, no one noticed.

_Aw! Isn't that nice_

_Such a happy scene!_

_Everything's looking rosy for the girls._

_But Zuko isn't finished._

_Far from it!_

_He's learning how to use the Heart,_

_and the next time he faces the Guardians, well,_

_even with the help of Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka, _

_the Guardians may not be able to stop him!_

_Things could end very badly, indeed!_

_Next:_

_Where'd Zuko go?_

_Home._

_But what kind of a homecoming can a banished, ultra-powerful Prince expect?_

_In the words of Augie Doggie, "Oh, father!"_

_But first:_

_What happened to Jet?_

_Corny couldn't keep him 'planted' forever._

_The Earth Guardian thought she'd bring Jet before the authorities, _

_but she didn't know how strange Avatar Town law is._

_Could Jet really escape justice, and get away with everything he's done?_


	31. Epilogue: Jet

Epilogue: Jet

"What do you mean you'll have to let him go??" yelled Cornelia, banging on the desk of Avatar Town's prosecutor.

"There's, there's nothing we can do! What you accuse him of happened out of our jurisdiction." replied the slightly shaken town official, worried he'd offended a Spirit.

"Easy, Corny, easy!" said Irma, holding the Earth Guardian back.

"They tell us in school no woman has a right to treated like that, then, when you report it, they ignore you??" said the terrain terror, in a mad as heck and not gonna take it mood.

"It's not like that, Cornelia, and you know it!" said Will, trying to keep things under control. "We're just in the wrong place for it, that's all!"

"But he was in league with Zuko, who tried to destroy the whole town! That's got to count to for something!" said the angry Earth Guardian.

"Yes, if he was an accomplice to such a crime, that would be a serious charge. Ordinarily." replied the lawyer.

"Ordinarily?" seethed Cornelia Hale, barely able to contain her rage. "Ordinarily?? What the heck does that mean?"

"Well, you see", said the attorney, pausing to clean the glasses fogged up by Cornelia's hot breath, "the one responsible for the fires..."

"Zuko." added Taranee.

"Yes. Zuko. Prince Zuko. Of the Fire Nation." continued the town lawyer.

"Uh oh. I see where this is going!" said Irma Lair, daughter of a cop.

"Any charges brought against a member of the royal family of the Fire Nation would have to be approved by the provincial Governor, and I can tell you, the odds of that are, well, non-existent!" stated the prosecutor. "And without an underlying crime, well, there's nothing for Jet to be an accomplice to!"

"Politics and lawyers! Arghh!" griped Cornelia.

"So that's it? There's nothing we can do?" asked Hay Lin, who was the Guardian the locals most respected.

"We can always issue a restraining order, Hay Lin, to make sure Jet stays away from Miss Cornelia." replied the town official.

"Oh, I can restrain him just fine! That's not the problem here!" said the Guardian of Earth, summoning vines from the wooden desk, which really freaked out the attorney.

"Cornelia!" exclaimed Will, her stern tone making the errant Earth Guardian end her display of power.

"That's too bad! I was really hoping to see that Wheel of Punishment!" joked Irma, trying to lighten the mood.

"But you don't understand, Will!" argued Cornelia. "This guy's really dangerous!"

"We know! But we did everything we could! Let it go!" said the leader of the Guardians.

"I am sorry, Miss, but he would have to have broken one of the laws of Avatar Town, so you see..." started the lawyer.

"Come on, Corny!" consoled Irma. "It'll be a long time before he tries a stunt like that, what was it, with the arena?"

"You mean burn down the arena holding the Earth Games? With the people still inside it? Yeah, I suppose you're right. He won't try that again!" said Cornelia Hale, resigned to the fact that Jet would go free.

Then Cornelia noticed the reaction of Will. Taranee. Hay Lin.

And the prosecutor.

"Uh, Irma, why is everyone smiling?" said the clueless Cornelia, who never realized the arena used for the Earth games that Jet planned to set ablaze was in Avatar Town!

**KLANNGGG **went the heavy metal cell door, as it slammed shut behind the ex-rebel, Jet.

"So, Slick, what are you in for?" asked the man in the shadows.

"Ah, it's a bum rap!" said Jet. "Domestic violence." he answered, not wanting to reveal the real charges - conspiracy to commit terroristic acts - to a resident of Avatar Town.

"Domestic violence? You beat up your girlfriend?" said the hulking giant, as he emerged from the shadows, snarling.

"No! No! It wasn't like that!" yelled Jet. "It was only assault!" he said, unaware that his cellmate was quite the romantic.

" 'Only' assault?" bellowed the huge bald man emblazoned with dragon tattoos who, due to recent good behavior, had been let out of his chains. "Well, this is 'only' my fist!" he said, advancing on the hapless teen.

"Wait!!" screamed the once-lackey of the Fire God. "Assault isn't battery!" he said, vainly trying to explain legal niceties to the man-monster bearing down on him. "It's…" he squeaked out, before the giant, tattoed man delivered a mighty blow to the ex-freedom fighter.

_Ouch!_

_That's got to hurt!_

_I bet you thought I forgot the big bald guy with tats, huh?_

_What happened to Jet?_

_He was convicted, spun the Wheel of Punishment, lucked out, and got Exile._

_So that's how Jet learned crime does not pay, _

_gave up freedom fighting,_

_and become another refugee journeying to Ba Sing Se._

_Doesn't justice rock?_

_I love it when a plan comes together!_

_Next:_

_Zuko learns more of the cost of war, and finally confronts his father!_

_(Phobos makes an appearance, too!)_

Notes

The Guardians don't appear in the next two chapters.

The story's growing (and going) beyond them.

Lots of fun when they pop up again, though: Humor, the clash of cultures, different fighting philosophies and, of course, action, action, action!

The problems Irma has with her newfound 'healing power' is based on real life. In fantasy tales, healing abilities are (almost) always presented as miracles, with no complications. In the real world, stem cells have been touted as the new (potential) miracle. But there have been a lot of problems with them. One of the problems is the risk of cancer. If transplanted stem cells overgrow, they could become cancerous. Now, I'm not suggesting Irma or other healers should give people cancer. That wouldn't be a lot of fun, or necessarily make for good escapist literature (one reads to forget life's problems, not be reminded of them). But making healing more difficult injects a bit of realism into the story, and gives our hero/heroine something to strive against.

Cornelia's earth power and Irma's water power are the most different from the elemental powers practiced on the Avatar's world. Earth benders can only move soil or rock (and a few can move metal), all inorganic items. But Cornelia can also move wood and make plants grow. Water benders can move water that exists around them, and make ice, but Irma can create water out of thin air and can't make ice. Also, some water benders can heal, but Irma has never shown this ability before.

In contrast, Taranee's fire powers are very similar to fire benders (Taranee has more control over fire, but how she uses fire is almost identical) and Hay Lin's air powers are very nearly the same as Aang's (although Aang is more creative with the use of his powers, and technically can't fly, only glide).

So it should come as no surprise that Irma & Cornelia have the most trouble of all the girls in finding their way in this new world and fitting in.

Also, the two of them are not completely 'recovered' from their respective ordeals. Which is going to cause...complications...down the line. Sure, Irma says she's okay. But I think we all know she isn't. As for Cornelia, count on her predilection for plants over people to come back to bite her in the butt.

(Actually, based on an offhand comment Cornelia makes later, she could be considered the most dangerous person in the world. But that would be teasing, so forget I said anything).

How do these issues affect the Guardians and their quest? Read on and see.

As for Taranee's theory of their being no Europeans or Africans in the Avatar's world, I'm having a little fun with the concepts behind the Avatar TV show (although they started it. More on that later).

Avatar is based on Japanese anime, eastern martial arts and philosophies. So all the people are of Asiatic origin.

(Aang and Katara may look European to westerners like me, but their rather generic/non-Asian appearance is an element of anime and doesn't look odd to Asians at all. According to what I read. I have my suspicions).

The Air Nomads, with their bald heads, spirituality and mountaintop living, are obviously based on Tibetan monks. The water tribes are based on the native people of the polar region, the Inuit, who came from Asia. The Earth Kingdom is, of course, China and Kyoshi Island is Japan.

Guru Pathik is a dark-skinned Indian (listen to the voice, and remember he's at the Eastern Air Temple), while the very tanned man meditating in the Spirit World is, based on his appearance, clearly a native of the Australian continent. That is, he's an aborigine.

So there aren't any Europeans or Africans on the TV show.

_However..._

You may have noticed that the bad guys, the Fire Nation, live 'in the west'.

They're also the only industrialized society in the Avatar's world.

Sound familiar?

So the Westerner/European stand-ins on the show are the villains?

Nice (sarcasm intended).

And it's 'okay' because they look Asian, too?

So, although it may appear I'm tweaking them on their conceptual oddities, I'm really tweaking them back. They started the whole thing!

It's all in good fun.

Really.

I've even added to the Asian tapestry in my story. Irma worked for a Mr. Kim, which is a popular Korean name. And the village where she lived for a time was called Hi No Wa, which sounds vaguely Native American on purpose. It was done to make Irma's Earth Kingdom village a bit more cosmopolitan than most, a place that many travelers pass through, a crossroads.


	32. Zuko Goes Home

W.I.T.C.H. In The World Of Avatar

Act III: Water

_Water is the element of change._

_The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many things._

_They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything._

- Iroh, "Bitter Work"

Chapter 22: Zuko Goes Home

The first thing Prince Zuko noticed as he regained consciousness was the heat.

Which was strange, because he never felt the heat of the flames that constantly swirled around his body.

And then he realized:

1) There were no flames around his body!

But Zuko still had the power of the jewel inside him. He could sense it! Apparently, he now had it under control. Did the run-in with those girls who said the jewel was theirs affect him somehow? They did appear to have weird powers. Not like other benders, at all, although it seemed that way at first. I mean, one of them actually created water in his body! And another could control plants. Even the 'fire bender' did her fire bending differently.

And 2) The heat was coming from the volcanic vents and steam geysers that were all over the place.

Zuko instantly knew where he was: In the Fire Lakes region of the Fire Nation!

But how? How did he get here?

Could the Heart jewel have done it?

When that girl with the bright hair was trying to take it from him, the jewel felt like it was going to explode, but it didn't. She did something to it, that's for sure. Could there be more to this thing than fire power?

More mysteries.

But Zuko had other things to worry about at the moment.

He was back in the Fire Nation.

The same place he had been banished from!

If anyone should see him...

"Prince Zuko? Is that you?" said the trembling female voice.

Too late.

Zuko slowly turned, the fire building inside him, eager to be released.

Then...

"Aunt Yuan?" said Zuko.

He knew her.

'Aunt' Yuan was not really Zuko's aunt, but a relative all the same. Mrs. Yuan Ming was the sister of Uncle Iroh's late wife. And, like many members of royalty and the well-to-do of Fire Nation society, vacationed every year in the Fire Lakes Region.

Instantly, the fire inside him cooled.

"Yes, Prince Zuko, it is I." replied the woman. "But what are you doing here? Are you...coming back?" she said, hopefully.

"Yes. Yes, I am coming back. Soon." said the determined fire bender. "Is there somewhere we can go to talk? In private?"

"Yes, of course. At our cottage. It is...secluded." answered Mrs. Ming, who knew she had to be discreet. The Fire Nation's punishment for consorting with exiled royalty was...severe.

She wanted to believe the Prince, wanted to believe his time of exile was at an end, but couldn't help but notice that on the way to their cottage past the burning lake and the lava river, he would turn his head to hide his scarred left eye whenever they passed people.

In the cottage, Mr. Ming greeted Zuko warmly.

"Prince Zuko! It warms my heart to see you again! My wife tells me you will soon officially return to the Fire Nation! That is good news indeed!" said Mr. Ming.

"Yes. My plans are bearing fruit, and soon we will be able to celebrate my return. But not quite yet. A few...details remain." said the Prince, thinking of how he still had to find the Avatar to restore his honor. He had the power needed to subdue the annoying multi-elemental, but first he had to locate him! "But it is a small thing. Nothing to worry about."

"Why wait to celebrate, then?" said the gregarious Mr. Ming. "My dear, bring out the special tea!" he said to his wife.

"A toast to happier days ahead! May they be better than ever!" added Mr. Ming.

"Yes, and a special toast to those unable to make it." said Yuan Ming. "We know how trying this time must have been on you, Prince Zuko. First, losing your mother, and then..."

"Yes. Thank you. You've always been so kind." said Zuko, trying to control his emotions.

The mere mention of his mother was enough to dredge up all of his old memories.

Of happier times.

The times he had with his mother.

Every summer they would come here, to the Fire Lakes region, relax and have fun.

Far from any wars, or royal court intrigue.

It was, probably, the best time of his life.

"Maybe, one day, I'll be able to pay you back for all the kindness you've shown me." added Prince Zuko, thinking of how, after he used the Heart to take his rightful place as ruler of the world, he would see to it everyone got what was coming to them.

"What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Ming.

Not wishing to elaborate on his plans, Zuko changed the subject.

"So...where is Shen? Is he with you??" asked Zuko.

Shen Ming was Prince Zuko's constant companion during these summer retreats while growing up.

While not officially cousins (Shen was actually the cousin of Lu Ten (Iroh's son), and Zuko was Lu Ten's cousin also, so by some transitive property of relations they were cousins, too. Or so Shen had argued one day), they considered themselves close as cousins. Almost brothers, really. Lu Ten was years older, and didn't want to hang around 'kids'. So Zuko and Shen naturally gravitated towards each other, even though they were very different.

Shen was amused by Zuko's impulsiveness and attitude, while Zuko liked that Shen treated him like any other person, instead of as the "Prince". Most kids, mindful of Zuko's royal status, kept their distance.

But not Shen.

Shen was, in fact, probably the only person who ever stood up to him.

_Flashback:_

_When they were 10, Zuko and Shen explored near the steam geysers._

_The steam geysers were almost a rite of passage for adolescent fire benders. If one was expert enough at bending, one could control the heat of the geyser by turning it into flame, thus preventing the scalding water from burning them._

_The hospital was full of failed benders who weren't quite good enough._

_But on this day, the steam geysers tried to claim another being._

_Zuko and Shen came upon an injured bird._

_"Stand back!" announced Zuko, getting in a fire bending stance. "I'll put it out of its misery."_

_"No! Wait!" yelled Shen._

_Shen stopped Zuko, and said he could heal the bird._

_Zuko scoffed. Its wing was broken! _

_And (unstated, but implied), how could a member of the Fire Nation heal one who lives in the sky?_

_Healing is Water Tribe stuff, and the sky was the domain of the Air Nomads._

_So imagine Zuko's surprise when, weeks later, the rehabilitated bird took to the air._

_"So the bird healed? So what?" said the dismissive Prince Zuko._

_"Everything injured wants to heal." said Shen. "Sometimes all we have to do is help it along."_

_"What are you saying? Is this more political talk?" replied Zuko, who, if there was one thing he didn't like about Shen, was that he would talk for hours with Uncle Iroh, usually about politics or other subjects the Prince had grown to despise. Shen was overly questiony, which was cute when you're six, but tiresome at almost any other age, and Iroh always indulged him. Zuko, for his part, had grown tired of politics even at this young age, and didn't want to have anything to do with it during his precious summer vacations._

_"No, I leave the politics to Uncle Iroh." answered Shen. "But I do think we've changed since all the Air Nomads left our world. And not for the better. Our planet is sick, Zuko. But what if we could learn to fly?"_

_"That's crazy!" said the son of the newly named heir to the title of Fire Lord. (Fire Lord Azulon, in a surprise move, had named Zuko's father, Ozai, to be the new Fire Lord when Azulon passed away, pushing aside the eldest son, Iroh.)_

_  
"Are you so sure? I don't think it's impossible." said Shen, as the bird sailed away from the erupting geysers of steam, riding the updrafts of heat, turning what had been a death trap into the engine of its freedom._

"Shen is…fighting in the war." said his concerned mother, answering Zuko's question.

"Oh. I see." said Prince Zuko, noting the worry on the faces of Shen's parents.

Their worry was justified. Shen was not a fighter. Oh, he had a strong heart, but he wasn't a bender.

In fact, Shen had dropped out of the Royal Fire Academy. Shen didn't want to discuss the details. All Zuko had heard was that it was a fire bending 'accident'. It was probably an initiation ritual like standing in the steam geysers at Fire Lakes, but Zuko respected his wishes and didn't pursue the subject.

Thinking of his friend at war, Zuko recalled the last time they spoke.

It wasn't a happy occasion.

_They were 13, and both had been through some rough times._

_Zuko had lost his mother, and Shen bore the marks of the 'accident' that burned his arms and caused his expulsion from the Academy._

_Zuko had traveled to Fire Lakes with Uncle Iroh, who had also suffered a loss. Iroh's son, Lu Ten, had been a casualty of the war._

_Iroh thought a trip to Fire Lakes could do them all a world of good, but everyone's emotions were too raw. _

_Zuko found his friend on a hilltop overlooking the Fire Lakes._

_"Shen? What are you doing up here?" asked Prince Zuko._

_"Just looking." replied Shen._

_"Looking at what? The Fire Lakes are in the other direction!" said the exasperated fire bender. "Are you losing it?"_

_"No. See that farmland over there?" said Shen, pointing. "They need water. While those crops over there have too much!"_

_"You can tell that? Just by looking at it? That's amazing!" replied Zuko._

_"No, that's observation. Science." said Shen._

_"I can see why you did so poorly in bending school!" joked Zuko. "Bending's internal, and you're always looking 'out there'!"_

_"Yes, well. If we were in the air we could do more than that. We could see a storm coming from a great distance, provide warning, and prevent disaster to farms and shipping. There's so much we could do for our people if we master the air. But your father would want to use the sky to wage war." commented Shen._

_"Have you been speaking to Uncle again?" said Zuko, annoyed that Shen would say such things about his father, the leader of the Fire Nation._

_"No. Well, yes, but only in passing." admitted Shen. "Zuko, this isn't about him! With our recent victories, the Fire Nation can end the war on terms favorable to us. But your father won't stop until he has it all! Why? What's the point?"_

_"You shouldn't say things like that! My father is a great man!" said Zuko, who had yet to criticize his father the Fire Lord, face him in an Agni-Kai, and be banished from the Fire Nation as a result._

_"I'm sorry." said Shen. " It's just that now my cousin is gone, lost to the war, and I don't understand why. I really don't."_

_"He was my cousin, too!" screamed Prince Zuko. "How dare you question his sacrifice! Lu Ten served the Fire Nation with honor! You know the war is the fault of the other nations! We needed land to expand, but the Earth Kingdom rejected our rightful claim to certain territories! When the Water Tribes and the Air Nomads joined the Earth Kingdom, ganging up on us, that's when the war started, and it won't be over until they yield!"_

_"Yes. I know that's what they tell us in school, but you haven't seen what I saw!" said the argumentative Shen. _

_"What are you babbling about?" said the proud, and angry, Prince._

_"They took our engineering class on a tour of the factories building the new war machines, thinking it would impress us, and it did, but not in the way they expected! Zuko, I saw what they were planning, and it scared me! I couldn't believe this is what our proud nation has come to."_

_"The engineers and warriors only work for our greater good! How dare you question them! Are you a traitor, Shen?" said Zuko, not expecting a 'yes' answer, desiring only to end the argument._

_"Of course not! I love our country! I knew you wouldn't understand! Son of the Fire Lord. What was I thinking? ...Oh, forget it!" said Shen, dismissing Zuko with a wave of his hand and walking away._

Zuko regretted that the last time they saw each other, they argued. Over politics, yet.

And now Shen was at war.

"You must be very proud." said Prince Zuko, searching for the right words to say to Shen's parents.

"Yes. Very proud." replied Mr. Ming.

But Zuko could tell there was more than pride in his voice.

"He'll be fine. Shen's a smart guy." consoled Zuko.

But even Zuko feared he wouldn't be fine.

After an uncomfortable silence, Mrs. Ming broke the ice by talking about the good times they had in the past.

Zuko went along, and on the surface it appeared as if everyone enjoyed themselves.

But Zuko hated it!

They were talking about Shen as if he were already dead!

Finally, Zuko thanked Mr. & Mrs. Ming for their hospitality and bade them farewell, promising to look them up when he had settled his 'status'.

Once Prince Zuko was in a secluded spot, he activated the power of the jewel of Candracar and took off into the nighttime sky, the fire around him a mere shadow of its former brilliance (although the fire inside him was hotter than ever), and was no match for the display put on by the volcano.

Hidden as he was in the dark, moonless heavens, Zuko knew he could fly out of the Fire Nation with no trouble.

But he got to thinking about Shen, and the war, and Shen, and...

_"Our planet is sick, Zuko. But what if we could learn to fly?"_

Shen was right. He was right about all of it!

_Look at me. Flying. Everything's changed! _thought the Heart of Candracar-powered fire bender.

Now, more than ever, Zuko had to find the Avatar and end his father's mad war!

_Hmmm._ Zuko thought. _I'm 'in the neighborhood'. Why don't I tell father right now?_

So Prince Zuko altered his flight path and flew directly to his father's throne room!

Nearing the Fire Lord's domicile, Zuko caused the flame around his body to flare up, the better to exhibit his might to anyone who dared challenge him.

Of course, the Fire Lord's soldiers tried to stop him, but they were no match for the Prince's new-found fury!

Alighting in Ozai's court, the Prince called him out.

"Father!" exclaimed Prince Zuko to the Fire Lord sitting on his throne. "I've come to give you a message!"

"Why are you here, Prince Zuko?" said Ozai, nonchalantly, acting as if nothing was amiss. "You were banished, never to return unless you had the Avatar with you!" said the imperious Fire Lord.

"And that hasn't changed." said Zuko. "But what has changed is that when I return with the Avatar and regain my honor, the next thing I will do is take your throne. And you can't stop me." he added, matter-of-factly.

And with that, Prince Zuko flew off, crashing through the roof and burning a fiery trail through the sky.

"My Lord, what shall we do?" asked a nervous guard.

"Do? Get someone to fix the roof! Now begone!" said the peeved Fire Lord.

"Ah, family! Can't live with them, can't banish them forever!" said Prince Phobos, emerging from the shadows. "I know what it's like, my Lord. On my world, it was my sister that became a thorn in my side!"

"Cease your babbling familiarity, Prince Phobos, and make yourself useful for once!" said the prospective ruler of his world. "I have a task for you: You must find the Avatar and bring him to me. What magics you possess that are not parlor tricks should be useful in this regard."

"Yes, of course, my Lord." sniveled Phobos. "But what of Prince Zuko? Surely you cannot allow a threat such as his to fester!"

"Be silent!" said the unquestioned leader of the Fire Nation. "Leave my son to me. You have your mission! Why are you still here?"

"Yes, my Lord. I will get on it right away!" said Phobos, bowing and walking backwards towards the exit at the same time.

Epilogue: Shen At War

In the frozen Northern wastes beyond the Earth Kingdom, a Fire Nation general raged at his underlings.

"Well?" bellowed the general. "Is it ready?"

"Yes, we think so, sir." replied the captain.

"Think??" said the demanding general.

"No! No! It is ready, sir!" answered the captain. "Take it up, men!"

The fully inflated war balloon then rose into the sky.

"Ah! Finally! My war ba-" he began.

Then the soldiers driving the balloon let too much air out of it, and it careened through the sky before crashing to the earth!

"No! No! No!" yelled the angry general. "Isn't there anyone who can make this thing work???"

"Uh, sir?" said the tentative aide.

"Yes?" said the ticked off general.

"Er, I believe I have someone who can help us! Fresh from the team that built the submarine for our navy! Lieutenant Ming!" announced the aide.

"You built the submarine?" asked the impressed general.

"I wouldn't say I built it, but I did make it work." explained Lt. Ming. "They were going to power it with steam, but I showed them that wasn't a good idea. The men would have boiled to death due to the heat, you see, but I was able to..."

"Yes, yes, whatever!" interrupted the general. "Can you fix this mess?"

"Let's see." said Lt. Shen Ming, examining the grounded balloon. "Wow! This is an amazing piece of work! But it needs a reliable means of control, as well as locomotion. Perhaps a propeller on a driveshaft, powered by the same motor that heats the air..." he mused. "Then maybe..."

"So you can fix it?" asked the impatient Fire Nation general.

"I believe so, sir!" said the Fire Nation officer, happy to be working on a project that aroused his passion.

"Good! I want my war balloon operational very soon! I'm anxious to test it in battle!" said the general.

"Um, general, sir, a vehicle like this wouldn't be much use in battle! It's too slow, and unable to carry much weight! It would be better for observation, or..." started the Lt.

"What was that, Lt. Ming?" replied the general. "Are you questioning my judgment?"

"No, of course not, sir! I'll have your 'war balloon' ready as soon as possible!" said Lt. Ming, saluting.

"Excellent! I'll need that balloon to get my men over the walls of Ba Sing Se!" said the ambitious general.

"While you're at it, why don't you build a giant rabbit to hold all your men and wheel it to the gates of Ba Sing Se?" muttered Ming, under his breath.

"Excuse me?" said the general.

"Nothing, sir!" replied the 'innocent' Shen Ming. "Just remarking on the wildlife of the area. The rabbits are huge! We should eat well tonight!"

"Yes. Very well. Carry on!" said the general, leaving Shen with a few soldiers to assist him.

Shen worked mostly alone, though, and only occasionally asked for help or materials.

His constant tinkering bored the soldiers, and they paid less and less attention.

Hours later, after the balloon had been inflated for a test run but before it was ready, Shen, scrunched down in the balloon's basket working on a device to control it, asked a warrior for a pry, a tool.

The yawning soldier, thinking Shen was ready to fly, undid the ropes holding the balloon on the ground.

Up, up and away it went!

Lt. Ming, however, was unaware of this, so engrossed was he in his work.

The balloon ascended so high in the sky the Fire Nation warriors could hardly see it.

"Um..." one of the soldiers said, "Isn't that supposed to come down?"

"Ah, I wasn't here when this happened!" another warrior said, trying to cover his rear. "I was, uh, on potty break!"

"Yeah! Me too!" added yet another.

"Oh, come on!" said the first soldier. "Does that excuse ever work?"

Far away, Lt. Ming asked again for his tool.

"Where the heck is that pry? Hello?" he said, calling to the soldiers who were supposed to be helping him.

Getting up in the basket, he realized the situation he was in: Thousands of feet in the air, miles away, heading south, and no way to control his flight!

"Uh oh." Shen said, feeling the wind on his face. "Ordinarily, flying would be excellent. If I wasn't totally screwed!"

_Hmmm._

_Ozai doesn't seem too concerned with the great changes Prince Zuko's gone through._

_Why? Does he know something we don't? (besides the Prince, that is)_

_Next:_

_Who do you think?_

_But first:_

_Taranee attends the Earth Games!_

_(and meets someone!)_


	33. Interlude 8: Taranee at the Earth Games

Interlude Eight: Taranee Attends the Earth Games

"And that was the amazing musical stylings of Duyi, everyone! Let's give him a big hand!" said the announcer. "Coming up: Pulu!"

"Oh! What'd I miss?" said Irma Lair, taking a seat in the arena next to her friend.

"Duyi. He had a one-man musical act. He used earth bending to make different notes come out of a clay flute." said Taranee Cook. "Oh, and earth boxing."

"I missed earth boxing? Darn!" replied Irma.

"Don't be. A bunch of overly muscled guys with rocks on their hands beating the crap out of each other?" said Taranee, dismissively.

"I know! That's why I'm sorry I missed it!" said Irma, the cop's daughter.

"Taranee? Who's your little friend?" asked the boy next to Taranee.

"Little friend??" said the frazzled Irma, peeved that some see her as a little kid, when she and Taranee are the same age. Taranee only looked older because she had her full Guardian powers, and Irma didn't! Totally unfair!

"Oh! Cheng, I'm sorry!" said the apologetic Taranee. "Cheng, this is Irma, Irma, this is Cheng."

"Hi. Uh, pleased to meet you!" said Irma, regaining her composure and extending her hand in friendship.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you, also." said the polite boy.

"Cheng's been filling me in on earth bending. It's very fascinating!" said the studious Taranee.

"Yeah, I bet that's not the only thing he wants to..." started Irma, before she was cut off by Taranee.

"Irma!" said the Fire Guardian to her friend, in an insistent voice meant only for her. "Cheng's not like that! Now be nice!"

"Okay. But I'm telling Nigel." Irma teasingly whispered to Taranee.

"I'm sure you ladies will enjoy Pulu!" stated Cheng, as the earth benders paraded their ostrich horses around the track prior to the game. "By uniting man and rider, it expresses more fully the chi of earth bending itself, which is about being one with nature."

"How can he take something exciting and make it sound boring? He must be a teacher! That's their gift!" joked Irma.

"Irma, please!" begged Taranee.

"Originally, pulu was played with badgermoles." added Cheng.

"Really?" said Taranee, who wanted to hear more.

"Yes. Actually, the people of the Earth Kingdom learned earth bending from badgermoles. But the wonderful creatures just did not work out for the game of pulu, unfortunately." said the wistful Cheng.

"Why not? The sport too rough for them?" asked Irma.

"No. The badgermoles would play amongst themselves with the ball, and the riders were shut out of the action." explained Cheng.

"Oh. I see." said Irma, stifling a laugh, and causing Taranee to poke her in the ribs so she'd quit it.

"So the ostrich horses were brought in." said Cheng, as play started. "The riders use earth bending to take dirt from a sack they wear around their shoulder, fashioning it into the large sticks used to hit the bamboo ball down the field."

"Because this is arena play, there's no earth bending on the field itself. Too dangerous for the ostriches and riders." said Cheng, elaborating. "But if this were a field in the hinterlands, they would. There, pulu is a test of bravery and daring, as well as skill." he said, as the mounted riders raced down the field, their ostriches making sharp turns so the riders could reach down, form an earth mallet and whack the ball.

"Riders can only bend earth in front of the goal, to defend it." continued Cheng, as the earth bender defender running to protect his goal caused a tower to rise from the ground, deflecting the ball away from it. "They..."

Just as Cheng said that, the uncoordinated defender swung his earth mallet at the ball...and hit his own tower.

The impact sent him flying off his ostrich and into the mud!

The ostrichless rider picked his head up, moaned, then flopped back down into the mud.

"Boo!!" yelled many in the crowd.

"You stink!" screamed another spectator.

"Bring back Duyi!" yelled another.

"I...think I've seen enough." said Taranee, getting up to leave.

"Seriously!" added Irma.

"Thanks anyway, Cheng." said Taranee to the speechless boy. "Nice meeting you!"

"Yeah! It's been fun!" giggled Irma.

"But, but you haven't seen earth gymnastics yet!" sputtered Cheng. "Some say it's the most beautiful form of earth bending!" he added, grasping at straws.

"That's okay. I really don't want to see anyone else get hurt!" commented Taranee Cook.

"They learned earth bending from badgermoles? I mean, puh-lease! Does he really think someone's gonna buy that?" said the skeptical Irma.

"It could be true." replied Taranee, as the two girls exited the arena. "I've been thinking about this whole bending business. We couldn't use scrying to find Prince Zuko because all the elemental powers on this world created 'static'. But remember how Will could sense lightning benders, and I got vibes off of Azula too because she was a fire bender?"

"And I felt something from that girl who was a water bender!" chipped in the excited Irma.

"Exactly! Since Hay Lin's like an 'air bender' and the Avatar is the last air bender, if we use scrying to find someone who's like Hay Lin, I bet we find the Avatar!" theorized the Fire Guardian.

"And if we find the Avatar, we find Zuko, because he's after the Avatar!" added Irma.

"Plus, if we find the Avatar, we find someone who can help us defeat Zuko!" replied Taranee. "That can't hurt."

"Sounds like a plan!" said the Water Guardian.

Back in the arena, Cheng lamented his luck.

"Smooth move, needlenose!" said the irritated Cheng to the groaning, failed earth bending 'athlete' sprawled in the dirt and mud. "Thanks a lot!"

_The Avatar sure is popular!_

_Everyone's looking for him!_

_So guess who shows up in our next chapter?_

_(Finally!)_

_Next:_

_Aang hasn't been around lately, because he's been on vacation._

_Where has Aang been vacationing?_

_Not the Misty Palms Oasis, that's for sure!_

_Someplace he likes even more!_

_Could it be...Wisconsin?_

_(Okay, not really. Well, maybe sorta kinda…)_

_I hope he enjoys it, because his vacation is gonna come to a quick end!_

Notes

Duyi means independent wholeness.

The flute was created in China.

Polo (the original kind, on horseback) was originated by the Mongols, and they spread it to China, Persia, India, etc. The Brits learned it from the Indians. The word polo came from the Tibetan _pulu_.


	34. Aang & Co in Placid Springs

Previously, on Avatar...

_"We need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war!" railed Sokka to Aang, Katara and Toph._

_"Well finish our vacations, then we'll look for Sokka's 'intelligence'!" said the playful, yet wise, Katara, eliciting laughter from Aang and Toph._

_"Your turn, Katara." announced Aang. "Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?" he asked, holding up a map._

_"How about the Misty Palms Oasis?" offered Katara, pointing to a spot on the map. "That sounds refreshing!"_

_"Oh, yeah, I've been there!" replied the Avatar. "It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I don't usually use the word 'pristine'. It's one of nature's wonders!"_

Chapter 23: Placid Springs

"Wow! This place sure doesn't seem placid!" yelled Aang, trying to be heard above the roar of the waterfall.

"What?" replied Sokka, his voice booming. "I can't hear you! The waterfall is too loud!" he said, pointing to the massive falls behind him.

Aang was confused.

He had been here once before, in a past life, but it hadn't been like this.

The fact he was familiar with the area was why he and the others had agreed to come to this remote, northern border area of the Earth Kingdom (a bit of a no man's land, really) for a vacation in the first place.

Toph, you see, had an issue with Katara's pick of a holiday spot. She remembered something about it, and wanted to inform Katara in her own special way.

_Flashback:_

_"Hold on! Did you say 'Misty Palms Oasis'?" asked the young, earth bending master._

_"Yeah! So?" challenged Katara, miffed that Toph was criticizing her decision._

_"So I just remembered my parents visited the Misty Palms Oasis! They said it was a real hole!" replied the sharp-tongued Toph._

_"They told you about it?" sneered Katara. "They didn't take you with them? Gee, I wonder why?"_

_"That's it, watergirl!" said Toph, her feelings hurt because Katara brought up the bad relationship she had with her folks. Toph's parents were so ashamed of their blind daughter they didn't tell people they even had a child. "I've had about enough of you!" added Toph, getting in a combat stance._

_"Ladies, please!" begged Aang, getting between them. "No fighting!"_

_"She started it!" yelled Toph. "So I'll finish it!"_

_"Me? You started it!" exclaimed Katara. "You're always riding me, and now you question my vacation choice?"_

_"I'm just trying to prevent you from making a mistake! The Misty Palms Oasis is a dump, and I don't think any of us want to go there!" said Toph._

_"Katara, why don't you pick somewhere else?" offered the weary, but diplomatic, Sokka._

_"As long as it meets the approval of Miss 'my parents the world travelers'!" replied Katara. "How about it, Aang? Any place as refreshing as the __former__ Misty Palms Oasis?"_

_"Now that I think about it, there was a place up north..." began Aang. "I haven't been there in a long time. Well, not me, exactly, but..."_

_"Here it is!" he said, jabbing at the map with his finger. "Placid Springs!"_

_"Ugh!" said Sokka. "It sounds like it's for old people!"_

_"But it should be relaxing!" said Katara. "As long as it's okay with Toph?" she added, with a bit of sarcasm._

_"Placid Springs?" said Toph, thinking it over. "Hmmm. Yeah, I think my parents gave that place a good review."_

_"Then it's settled!" said a happy Aang. "We're going to Placid Springs!"_

But it was anything _but_ placid!

As the unceasing torrents of water cascaded over the side of the cliff, a man approached Aang and the others.

"Hello, travelers!" said the friendly proprietor of the Springs. "Come to enjoy our world famous springs? A beautiful, unspoiled wonder of nature nestled deep in the Earth Kingdom, far from any ferocious beasts or wars!" boasted the businessman.

"Really?" asked Sokka. "The war's never come here?"

"Our valley is so remote, there is no strategic importance to the land at all!" stated the owner of the Springs. "Also, be sure to visit our other attractions, like the Temple of the Earth Spirits and the Battlefield of the First Earth Kingdom!" added the promoter.

"Wait a minute! You said this land had no strategic importance! So why is there a battlefield nearby?" said Sokka, thinking he had caught the slick salesman in a lie.

"Since both the first Earth King, Quo Jin, and his opponent, Warlord Kang, had summer palaces in the vicinity, they decided to have the battle here so they wouldn't have to travel so far!." answered the quick-witted businessman. "By the way, those summer palaces are also available for tours!"

"Oh yeah! Now I remember! The battle that united the Earth Kingdom for the first time!" exclaimed Aang.

"Let me guess. Because you, as the Avatar, were there, right?" sighed Sokka.

"Yep!" replied the grinning Aang.

"But that still doesn't explain why the Springs are now a waterfall, Aang." commented Katara.

"Uh, about that, sir?" inquired the Avatar. "What happened to them? The Springs, I mean?"

"Oh, that!" replied the owner. "The Earth Spirits blessed us with a slight...earth movement a couple of years ago. It altered much of the ground around here. Our refreshing hot springs became cool, rushing waterfalls. Our pleasant lake became a raging river, etc.

"A _slight _earth movement did all that?" quizzed Sokka.

"Okay, okay, it was a massive earthquake! But it was the offseason, so it didn't count. Anyway, our former visitors didn't take to all of the changes, so we've had to go in a different direction." said the humble proprietor.

"What do you mean?" asked Katara.

"We noticed we were attracting a younger crowd, so we changed our marketing accordingly." said the park operator. "Now, who wants to see our water park?"

"A water park??" screamed the two Water Tribespeople, Sokka and Katara, in gleeful unison. "You have a water park?"

"Why, yes! We're the water park capital of the Earth Kingdom! Actually, we have the only water park in the Earth Kingdom, so that makes us the capital. Truth in advertising and all that!" said the salesman.

"All right!" yelled Sokka. "Let me at 'em!"

"Not so fast, youngster!" said the owner of the Springs water park, stopping Sokka. "You have to pay first!"

"But you just said an earthquake created the water park!" argued the Avatar, protector of the natural world. "If nature provided it, how can you charge for it?"

"Some would say your sky bison was provided to you by nature." replied the businessman. "Do you charge others to ride it?"

"That's ridiculous!" answered Aang. "Why would I ask people for money to ride Appa??"

"And yet, if you did, you would have the cash needed to enter the water park! Correct?" said the self-satisfied ticket seller.

"But that's…Hold on, that doesn't…it's circular reasoning, that's what that is!" said the Avatar, spinning around like a top.

Dizzy, he fell to the ground.

"That's okay, Aang." said Katara. "I got it!"

"Do you take Water Tribe money?" she asked the owner of the water park.

"Ah, why not? We're all one big, happy family here!" said the smiling proprietor as he punched their tickets, glad to make another sale.

As Aang, Katara and Sokka rushed off to see the water park, Toph was held back by the businessman.

"Just one moment, little lady!" said the slightly stressed purveyor of entertainment. "We do have some rules around here! Insurance and all that! Now, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Ah, well, you see..." began Toph.

"You can't see, can you? Tragic. I'm afraid you can't use our water park, then." replied the owner.

"What?? I'll have you know I can take care of myself!" roared the proud Toph.

"I'm sure you can! However...we do have facilities to accommodate even people such as yourself! We're very progressive!" said the equally proud proprietor.

"Really?" said the hopeful earth bender.

"Really!" exclaimed the owner.

"Really." said the deadpan Toph, sitting in an inches-deep baby pool, while surrounded by infants! "Joy."

"We'll pick you up later, Toph! Have fun!" said the good-natured Katara, as she, Aang and Sokka took off for the real action of the water park.

"Yeah. I'll have loads of fun!" replied Toph, as a toddler crawled over her.

"Oh! Does Mommy's baby need a change?" said a mother to her child as she plucked him out of the water, his diaper dripping feces.

Toph gritted her teeth. It was going to be a long day.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew were having the time of their young lives!

Aang, Katara and Sokka shot down the slides!

They rode the rapids!

And (admittedly, with Katara's water bending assistance) surfed the waves!

Eventually, they took a break.

Not because they were tired.

Oh no!

Because they wanted to get re-energized for another go-round!

Stopping at the refreshment stand, they asked the peddler what was good.

"Oh, it's all good!" he replied. "Rice Taffy. Lotus Cakes. We've even got Jelly Curry!"

"It all looks so inviting, it's hard to decide!" said Aang, pondering which treat he should pop in his mouth next.

"Looks like Appa's made his decision!" joked Sokka, pointing to Appa sticking his big tongue into the Rice Taffy maker.

"Appa! No!" yelled Aang to his spirit animal.

Aang pulled Appa out of the machine, but the sky bison's fur was covered in the brown goo, which he contentedly licked over and over.

"I'm sorry, sir!" apologized Aang.

"Don't worry about it! It was time for me to clean the darn thing anyway!" said the sweets seller.

Back to the water park for more fun, Aang surprised the two Water Tribesmen by beating them down the slide.

Katara and Sokka complained Aang cheated by covering his body in frictionless air, but it was really good-natured ribbing.

Plus, Katara got Aang good when she caught up to him in the pool!

After more raucous water excitement, the three relaxed by floating down a lazy river, cups of fizzy tea in hand.

"Isn't this great, Aang?" said Katara. "We owe Toph our thanks! I've never had so much fun!"

Aang wanted to say 'No, you're great, Katara!', but he couldn't. All he could do was stare at her with a goofy look on his face.

"Even those noisy falls over there look kind of beautiful at this distance." added Katara.

Aang wanted to say 'Not as beautiful as you', but all he could manage to blurt out was "Yeah."

"Aang?" inquired Katara, concern etched on her face. "Have you been overdoing the fizzy tea? You know it makes you light-headed!"

"What? Oh no! I'm fine! Really!" said the air bender, covering his recent behavior with a smile.

It was a perfect scene.

Even the flipper fish (fish with huge fins that they used to glide through the air) jumping over them didn't bother them. Sokka included, and that's saying something!

So of course things had to take a nasty turn!

"I've got you now, earth bender!" yelled the young fire bender floating down the river, as he bent a line of flame in front of him.

"Oh no, Aang! The fire bending kid is attacking that other kid!" said the worried Katara. "We'd better..."

Too late!

The fire bender let fly his flame at the other youngster, who responded by raising a wall of mud and silt from the bottom of the river, blocking the fire ball.

"Oh no you don't!" exclaimed the boy earth bender.

"Hey, you kids!" screamed the operator of the lazy river from the shore. "No roughhousing on the river!"

"Oh. They were just...playing. An earth bender and a fire bender, playing! I don't remember when I've ever seen that!" said the stunned Katara.

"I do." said the wistful, 112 year old Avatar, recalling how things were before the war.

When they got off the river, Katara couldn't resist asking a few questions of the water park owner.

"You let anyone in? Even Fire Nation?" asked Katara.

"Certainly! This place is a haven!" answered the proprietor. "I already mentioned it's far away from wars and ferocious beasts! That's no lie! So when word spread how safe it was, and how much kids enjoy it, more and more families sent their kids up here to stay! Even Fire Nation families!"

"Wow." replied the impressed water bender. "So everyone here lives in peace?"

"You got it!" said the head of the water park.

"It's like a dream, Aang!" said the Water Tribe girl to the last air bender. "Just think...the whole world could be like this after you defeat the Fire Lord!"

Aang, lost in Katara's sparkling blue eyes, wanted to say something profound and Avatar-like, but could only ramble on. "Uh huh. Just like this. The whole world. Sounds good."

"But enough of that!" barked the businessman. "Who wants brochures?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Brochures!" yelled Sokka. "Uh, what are brochures?"

"Here!" said the owner, thrusting a pack of them into Aang, Katara and Sokka's hands.

"Oh, look! The Wonder Spot! 'See water flow uphill...without the benefit of water bending'!" said the excited Aang.

"Ah, big deal!" replied Sokka. "Look at this! 'See the spirits fly through the air at the Temple of the Earth Spirits'!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" said Aang. "Why would earth spirits fly?"

"Maybe because they're spirits?" defended Sokka.

"Hush you two! Check this out!" added Katara. " 'See the home of Wang Wong Wei, founder of the earth school of architecture'. He designed homes that looked like they rose out of the earth!"

"Architecture. Big whoop." said Sokka, twirling his finger.

"Sokka, he designed the Royal Hotel in Ba Sing Se and..." said Katara, reading the brochure. "...the house on the waterfall? I didn't know an earth kingdomer did that! That's amazing!" said the astonished Water Tribe girl.

"Maybe if we have time we can see all of them!" suggested Aang.

"Don't forget the Terracotta Warriors!" added the park owner.

"The what and who?" inquired Sokka, taking a brochure.

"The 10,000 Terracotta Warriors!" interjected Aang. "I remember them!"

"The 10,000 Terracotta Warriors were buried with the first Earth King, Quo Jin! No one knows why." said the manager of the local attractions. "Some say they are all that remains of a great battle. After Quo Jin defeated Warlord Kang and united the Earth Kingdom, he set his sights on the other nations, but was foiled when the mightiest of the ancient avatars, the earth bender Wen Tao, ended the first war between the nations by turning Quo Jin's warriors & their horses into terracotta. Or so says the legend. But most think the terracotta warriors were a funeral gift for the next world, to rule an empire in the afterlife."

"Actually, they're both right!" said Aang.

"Really? How do you know that?" asked the curious chief of tourism.

"Don't tell me. Let me guess." said the annoyed Sokka. "More Avatar stuff?"

"You got it!" said the smirking reincarnated one.

"Huh?" said the puzzled proprietor.

"As the Avatar, Aang can remember his past lives." explained Katara.

"You don't say!" said the happy park operator. "Well, Avatar, how would you like a job as a tour guide?"

"Sorry, sir. We're only here on vacation. That's it!" said Aang.

"Aang still has to master fire bending and defeat the Fire Lord." explained Katara.

"Oh. Too bad. Maybe after?" said the businessman, trying for a glimmer of hope.

"Ahhhhh. I'll think about it." replied the Avatar, but not really meaning it.

"Maybe you should think about it, Aang. This wouldn't a bad place to retire to!" commented Katara. "After you're done with your Avatar business, of course!"

"They do have those summer palaces! Maybe you could get one of those!" offered Sokka, referring to the summer palaces of the first Earth King and his opponent that were in the area, although there were probably others, as well.

"Maybe, you guys. Maybe." said Aang, putting his arms around his friends and walking away. "Now let's go get Toph!"

Aang didn't want his friends to worry, but he suspected there'd be no retirement for him.

That his 'Avatar business' would lead to...

But no. That's why he went on vacation in the first place. To forget about that stuff.

So Aang went back to enjoying his time off.

Much later...

"Sorry we're so late, Toph!" said Katara. "We were delayed because Appa got into the Rice Taffy...a second time!

"Yeah, and this time the peddler wouldn't accept a simple 'we're sorry'!" added Sokka.

"We had to clean up his stall and..." began Aang.

"Where's Appa?" inquired Toph, who could usually feel the giant sky bison from a couple hundred feet away.

"To pay the man for all the rice taffy Appa ate, Aang had to...rent him out." answered Sokka.

"Oh! Sorry, Aang." said Toph. "Me and Appa don't get along so well, but I know how much he means to you."

"Don't worry, Aang!" said Katara. "Appa likes to give rides to kids!"

"I think what Appa really likes are the fringe benefits!" joked Sokka. "Namely, all the rice taffy he can glom off of the little urchins!"

In the sky, Appa swooped around. The child on his back voiced a hearty 'Yippie!', then was struck speechless when Appa turned his head and curled his huge tongue all over the rice taffy the boy was carrying in a bag.

"Were you okay, Toph?" inquired the sensitive Katara after Aang and Sokka had run off to get frozen custard tart from a passing vendor. "We know you must have hated it, but there was nothing we could do!"

"Nah, it was fine!" insisted Toph. "The kids weren't that bad!"

"Bye, Toph!" said one of the toddlers.

Other pre-schoolers parroted their own goodbyes, and some asked "Are you coming back, Toph?"

"Maybe later. I gotta go now!" said the blind earth bender.

"Aww!" they all said.

"Wow!" said Katara. "You made quite an impression on them!"

"Nah! They act like that with everyone." replied Toph.

"I never would have thought you, an earth bending master, could have fun in a baby pool!" said Katara. "You're full of surprises, Toph!"

"Only goes to show you don't know me, watergirl!" said Toph.

"Hey!" said the shocked owner of the water park. "Where did these slides come from?? There aren't supposed to be any slides in the baby pool!!"

"You didn't?" said the mildly surprised Katara, her mouth forming a smile against her better judgment. "You did, didn't you?"

"Heh." said the pleased Toph, grinning from ear to ear.

Realizing she was talking to Katara, Toph's mood quickly changed. "I suppose now you're going to tell me I have to put everything back to the way it was before, huh?' griped the testy terraformer.

"Why do you assume that? I know how to have fun!" defended Katara of the Water Tribe. "Although it probably would be for the best if you got rid of the slides."

"See? You're such a mom, Katara!" complained Toph Bei Fong.

"I'm just saying, you had your fun, so maybe you should..." began Katara, who then realized what was going on.

In the distance, Sokka and Aang enjoyed their frozen treats.

"That cherry custard tart sure looks good! I'll trade you some of my cinnamon custard tart." offered Sokka.

Aang agreed, and made the exchange.

Then Momo jumped on Sokka's frozen cherry custard tart and ate it all up!

"Hey! Momo!!" exclaimed Sokka. "Aang, I'm going to need more cherry custard! Momo took mine!"

"So? You should have been more careful!" said Aang, licking away on his frozen yummies before they could melt.

"So? So Momo's your pet! You're responsible for him!" yelled the agitated Water Tribe boy.

"No he's not. Momo's a free spirit. He's not my pet!" replied the twelve year old Avatar.

"And who named him 'Momo', huh? You did! Definitely pet-like behavior!" insisted Sokka.

"So what if I named him? That doesn't prove anything!" said Aang. "I could name this beetlesloth over here on the ground 'Daiwoo' but that wouldn't make him my pet!" argued Aang.

Katara, overhearing this, could stand no more.

"Oh, will you two quit it!" shouted Katara. "Sokka, I'll get you more frozen custard tart, okay?"

"No! It's the principle of the thing!" said the proud Water Tribesman, arms crossed in defiance.

"You see what I have to deal with?" said Katara to the earth bending girl. "I'm sorry, Toph. You're right. I've been around those two for so long, I probably do act like a mom!" said Katara, cognizant of the fact Toph's mom and dad were over-protective and never allowed Toph to be herself. "But I promise not to treat you like I treat them. Deal?"

"Sure! Thanks, Kat!" replied Toph.

" 'Kat'?" said a puzzled Katara.

"Katara is just too long! So why don't I call you 'Kat' for short?" said Toph, who couldn't resist sticking it to the 'grown-up' water bender.

Inside, Katara seethed.

_You can't call me 'Katara' because that's too long, but you can call me 'watergirl', huh? _thought the angry Katara.

Outside, however...

"Okay, Toph!" said Katara, forcing a smile, trying desperately to be the responsible one even though she, like the rest of them, was just a child. " 'Kat' it is! But just for you!"

Meanwhile, Appa had returned after completing his 'job' of flying kids around for money.

A happy Aang then gave Sokka some of his frozen cherry custard tart.

And all was right in the world.

Then Appa stole Sokka's cherry custard tart.

"Sighhh!" said a depressed Sokka, finally giving up.

"What are we going to do next?" asked Toph.

"We talked about that. I voted for Wang Wong Wei's earth architecture!" replied Katara.

"No, let's see the Temple of Earth Spirits! That'd be excellent! They're all like 'Whoosh! Whoosh!' " said Sokka, waving his arms. "Plus they're 'earth' spirits, Toph!" hinted Sokka to the earth bender.

"No, the Wonder Spot would be better!" said Aang.

"Is there anything else?" inquired Toph, not liking either of the choices.

"Ah, something about a Battlefield of the First Earth Kingdom, something, something, 10,000 Terracotta Warriors buried there, et cetera, blah blah blah." said the uninterested Sokka.

"A battlefield with buried warriors?" replied Toph Bei Fong. "Finally something I can sink my feet into!" Toph said, referring to how she views the world, as Toph senses things with her feet.

"But, Toph, earth architecture!" argued Katara. "You can 'sink your feet' into that, too!"

"Don't forget the flying earth spirits!" added Sokka. "Okay, maybe Aang was right. That doesn't make a lot of sense."

"No, I want to see the Battlefield!" insisted Toph. "And it is historical, Kat...Katara." said Toph, pushing Katara's buttons like a master.

"Okay, the Battlefield it is!" agreed Katara, pleased Toph actually called her by her full name.

" 'Kat'?" said the confused Sokka.

"Looks like you guys are outvoted!" said Toph.

"Awww!" said Aang.

"Maybe we can see the Wonder Spot later, Aang!" offered the diplomatic Katara.

On their way to see the sights, Aang and friends encountered a huge crowd in the center of town.

And the crowd was apparently centered on...someone.

Someone (or _someones_) they were all anxious to see!

"Maybe it's Miyama!" suggested the excited water bender.

"My mama?" asked Sokka.

"No, Miyama!" answered Katara.

"Your mama?" said the puzzled Aang.

"Remember those traveling musicians we ran into on the way to Omashu? That song they did that I really liked was Miyama's! They said she was real popular! And if people are sending their kids here because it's safe, I bet others come here for the same reason!" reasoned the Water Tribe girl.

"Others?" asked Toph.

"Popular people like Miyama!" said Katara, inadvertently creating a celebrity culture in the Avatar's world.

But when she asked one of the kids who it was they were all desperately trying to meet, she was told it was 'The Guardians'.

"Who?" said Katara.

"They're an amazing group of benders!" said the young fan. "They even beat Azula! I've got all their stuff from the Earth Bay trading post!"

"They _beat_...Azula?" said the shocked Katara. "All of us together, plus Zuko, couldn't do that!"

"I've got a bad feeling about this." said the suddenly serious air bender.

"Too much frozen custard tart and rice taffy?" joked Sokka.

"Sokka..." said the grim Aang, his happy smile only a distant memory.

"More of your weird Avatar powers, huh? Joy." said the deflated Water Tribe boy, the fun of the day long forgotten.

_Next:_

_The Guardians meet Aang, Katara, Sokka & Toph!_

_What's going to happen then?_

_I'll leave you with a preview of the next chapter, the opening._

_"Fire. Earth. Water. Air. Long ago these four elements lived in harmony, but then everything changed when the Guardians arrived! Only Aang, the A__vatar__, master of all four elements, could end their interference and restore the elemental balance. But when the world needed him most, he was elsewhere. Time passed, and the Guardians' most valuable object and the greatest force the world has ever known, the Heart of Candracar, fell into the hands of our most hated enemy, endangering everyone on the planet! Although the Guardians mean well, and still possess great power, they have a lot to learn before they can save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."_

_But first:_

_Phobos makes a friend!_

Notes

During World War II, parents working in the war factories (and other places close to the front lines) sent their kids away for the summer, both to keep them safe and to shield them from reality, from the bad news that came out every day. It allowed the youngsters to retain some small part of their childhood.

Rice Taffy - think saltwater taffy crossed with cotton candy, but with rice.

Lotus Cakes - think Rice Crispy Treats crossed with lotus leaf pancakes.

Jelly Curry - almost as ominous as it sounds. Think Gummi Bears, only with curry.

Fizzy tea - like soda pop.

The character interaction in this chapter, particularly between Toph and Katara, is meant to emphasize the family dynamic that's at work here. Family is one of the themes of Act III, Water. Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph make it through all of their hard times because they're a family. If the Guardians hope to survive, they're going to have to act like more of a family, too.

Wang Wong Wei is obviously modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright, founder of the prairie school of architecture, who built long buildings of natural materials with flat roofs and lots of horizontal lines because he wanted to integrate the building with the landscape. The interiors were as open as possible, to integrate the living space with the building and thus the resident with the land, because Wright thought man should live in harmony with nature. Sounds like some kind of spiritual 'bender', doesn't he?. He also designed the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and Fallingwater, the home built over a waterfall.

Why is Wisconsin standing in for the Northern Earth Kingdom? Why not? Seriously, it is a very beautiful part of the country, Wisconsin Dells is the 'water park capital of the world', and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, part home, part studio/architectural laboratory is in Wisconsin. Rice even grows wild in Wisconsin (although wild rice is a grass and isn't real rice). The Wonder Spot, though, sadly, is now gone. Oh, and the Temple of Earth Spirits isn't the House on the Rock. The Temple is based on a non-Wisconsin attraction.


	35. Interlude 9: Phobos Finds An Ally

Interlude Nine: Phobos Finds An Ally

On the way to his quarters in the Fire Lord's palace, Phobos passed a regiment of Fire Nation soldiers training and practicing fire bending moves.

The warriors' Shaolin techniques created a succession of fiery blasts that pinwheeled into the wall.

Spying their activities, Phobos dismissed their efforts.

_The fools!_ thought Prince Phobos. _So concerned with power in this world, when there are other worlds, with even greater power!_

Alone in his room, the wicked Prince tapped into the energy of those lashed to the Great Elemental Wheel he was building for the Fire Lord.

Though the Wheel lacked an air bender, its power was great enough, in Prince Phobos' hands, to lift the veil, however briefly, between this world and the next.

Phobos then stood next to his physical body, and watched himself.

_And oh, what I could learn in this new world! _ perceived the Prince.

Then the natural world fell away, and Prince Phobos found himself...elsewhere.

A strange place, a land that was not a land, with scenery that looked like a rainbow crashed into it.

But Phobos was not alone.

"Eh?" said a man meditating by a pool, opening one eye.

The man resumed meditating and closed his eyes. "Ommmmm." he intoned.

Then he opened his eyes again and said to the Prince "Why are you still here? Begone!"

_So, _thought Phobos, _There are fools in this world, as well!_

Phobos wandered off and entered a cave.

Then a giant centipede skittered across the wall of the cave and jumped in front of the Meridian Prince!

"Hello." said the devilish Prince, whose face bore no expression at all. "You must be Koh."

"Prince Phobos." replied the face-stealing centipede, changing visages as he spoke directly to the magician. "We have much to discuss."

_Uh oh!_

_Phobos and Koh, plotting together?_

_That can't be good!_

_Next:_

_Aang has a severe case of the creeps regarding the Guardians,_

_but all his fears melt away when he meets a certain someone!_

_In our next thrilling chapter: The Guardians Meet The Avatar!_

_(Finally!)_


	36. The Guardians Meet the Avatar

"Fire. Earth. Water. Air. Long ago these four elements lived in harmony, but then everything changed when the Guardians arrived! Only Aang, the Avatar, master of all four elements, could end their interference and restore the elemental balance. But when the world needed him most, he was elsewhere. Time passed, and the Guardians' most valuable object and the greatest force the world has ever known, the Heart of Candracar, fell into the hands of our most hated enemy, endangering everyone on the planet! Although the Guardians mean well, and still possess great power, they have a lot to learn before they can save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."

Previously, on W.I.T.C.H. In The World of Avatar...

_"...It was a girl!" thought Aang. "A flying, fire bending girl! But fire benders can't fly!" fretted the young Avatar..._

_"...Where did all this water come from?" said the mystified Water Tribe girl. "...Water benders can't create water out of nothing!...Sokka, do you know what this means?" said Katara..._

_"...A plant spirit!" thought Toph. "An actual, real, live spirit of the plant world!"_

_Toph never would have believed it herself, if she hadn't felt it with her own two feet..._

Chapter 24: The Guardians Meet The Avatar

For the Guardians, the last few days had been...memorable.

After being the toast of Avatar Town, with fireworks (or, rather, earthworks) in their honor, the girls collected supplies for their mission and then came a most important task - shopping!

All new robes, courtesy of Irma's haul in the Arena (she negotiated a piece of the concessions, dontchaknow!).

Plus jewelry. Shoes. Etc.

Irma picked out a darling blue and white number, the front of which was decorated with her signature flowers, and accessorized with a dark sash. Kind of Water Tribey (just don't tell Irma that!), but in an Earth Kingdom way. Cornelia selected a rich-looking green outfit (except it didn't cost nearly as much as it appeared - Irma really knew how to cut a deal!) that she added an earthtone cape and belt to, and topped it off with a stylish piece of Earth Kingdom headgear. It all went together very nicely - wearing it, the regal Corny looked as if she had just stepped out of an Earth Kingdom High Society bash (or even the Royal Palace!) Will, however, got a simple, comfortable purple and turquoise tunic (yes, the same colors as her Candracar costume - the girl has no imagination!) that looked a little like the Avatar's clothes, Hay Lin thought, but she kept that little tidbit to herself. Hay Hay didn't see any reason to embarrass her friend. Besides, maybe Aang would find it flattering! Taranee, for her part, went with a hot red two piece (similar to her dance outfit back home) that emphasized her fiery qualities, but in a decidely warm, un-Fire Nationy way, and paired it with an ethnic kente belt. And Hay Lin wore an orange & tan kimono, similar to the native dress of the Air Nomads of long ago, but different, too (the ancient air race wore red and gold). Hay Lin wanted to make a positive impression on the last air bender, but without doing anything morbid.

They had to look their best, the girls told themselves - they were going to meet the Avatar, closest thing this world had to Superman!

And thanks to Taranee's smarts, they finally had a way to find him.

Scrying for someone like Hay Lin, they pinpointed a person with air powers in the northern area of the Earth Kingdom. And who else could it be but the Avatar, the last air bender?

Hay Lin's abilities really came in handy for the trip, too. She used her power over air to negate gravity, enabling the grounded Irma and Cornelia to 'fly' with them all the way to the town of Placid Springs.

And when they got there, they discovered word had spread fast!

Everyone knew who they were!

It was a mob scene!

They never had to deal with anything like this back home, that's for sure.

While satisfying autograph requests and the occasional 'spirit blessing', Will and the others managed to ask a few questions.

For instance, "What is this place called?"

"Has anyone seen the Avatar?"

And "How does my hair look?" (Sorry. That last one was Cornelia's. She had been trying a new conditioner that she got from a peddler who claimed it restored life to hair, and was made with ginger blossoms. Never mind).

The Guardians received answers to most of their questions, including confirmation that Aang the Avatar was in town.

They tried to be as gracious as they could with their adoring fans, but not everyone was thrilled with the crowd of gawkers.

A few people asked Cornelia to bless their crops/seeds, in hopes of ensuring a fruitful harvest.

Corny was only too happy to comply.

Finally, a young lady asked the 'Plant Spirit' to bless her baby.

"Sure!" replied the smiling Cornelia.

Then the woman parted her robe and presented her belly to the Earth Guardian.

Cornelia, seeing the condition the woman was in (totally preggers!), fell back, aghast at the notion. What bothered Corny was, not so much the woman's request, but how she herself was perceived by the populace.

"Okay, that's enough of the rock star life!" exclaimed a perturbed Cornelia Hale. "Will, get us out of here!"

Will agreed it was time to get on with their mission, and broke through the crowd to meet Aang and company.

Aang, for his part, had much the same idea, and had begun checking the Guardians out by inquiring about them from their 'biggest fan'.

"So, these 'Guardians' are a group of different benders?" asked Aang.

"Yeah, but not like any benders anyone's ever seen before!" said Jif the fan. "They're incredible!"

"And they're coming this way!" added the excited Jif. "This is so awesome! The Avatar, master of all four elements, meets the Guardians! Oh my spirits!" said Jif, undulating his arms.

"Yeah, uh, could you keep it down there, buddy!" said Sokka.

"Hi, I'm..." began Will, before she was interrupted.

"I know who you are! Oh! Can I do the introductions? Can I??" asked the eager Jif.

"Uh, sure! Why not?" replied the bemused Will Vandom.

"Hey! Nice outfits!" complimented Katara.

"Thanks! We found them at the most darling little shop in Avatar Town!" said Cornelia.

"Really? Where is that? I've been thinking of a new look." said the water bending master.

"Hey, hey! I'm supposed to be doing introductions, here!" said the miffed Jif.

"Fine! You may proceed, oh master of introductions!" said Katara, bowing with a flourish.

"Okay, Aang, everybody, these are the Guardians - Avatar Hay Lin, Plant Spirit and the Winged Fire Benders of Righteousness, who beat the Fire Nation in Avatar Town!" said Jif. "Guardians, this is Aang the Avatar, Katara the master water bender, Sokka, warrior of the Water Tribe and Toph the great earth bender!"

"Hey! What about me?" said the peeved Irma Lair.

"You?? Oh, right, she's that water bender who does tricks." informed Jif. "I heard she can't even make ice without her friend's help." added Jif, whispering to Aang.

"Really?" replied Aang.

"Grrrr!" said the angry Irma, steam coming out of her ears.

"But she can make steam! Good to know!" commented the droll Sokka, who overheard the ice making crack.

"Actually, my friend Taranee is the 'fire bender'. I'm what you'd call a 'lightning bender'. My name's Will." said the leader of the Guardians, extending her hand in friendship.

"The four-in-one." said Aang, in a low voice just above a whisper, with a faraway look in his eyes. Aang didn't shake Will's hand.

"Hey, I know you!" interjected Taranee Cook. "You're that kid who attacked me!"

"Huh?" said Aang, recovering his faculties. "Sorry! When I saw a flying fire bender, I thought the Fire Nation had a new weapon and..."

"They're evil? Yeah, we found that out! I understand." said the Fire Guardian.

"And you're that girl Sokka and I accused of being a Fire Nation spy!" said Katara to Irma. "I apologize for that! The Fire Nation has been after Aang and ourselves for so long, we just assumed..."

"Yeah, whatever! Water under the bridge, and all that!" replied Irma.

" 'Water under the bridge'? Is that what they say in your tribe?" asked the Water Tribe boy.

"Sokka's sorry, too! Aren't you, Sokka?" prodded Katara, elbowing him.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry I called you a spy!" said Sokka.

"And I'm sorry I gave you that 'suggestion'." said the Water Guardian.

"Huh?" said a puzzled Aang.

"I'll tell you later." whispered Katara to Aang.

"You're the plant spirit? You are! I felt you in the meadow!" said Toph to Cornelia.

"What do you mean?" asked the confused Cornelia.

"I've been blind all my life, so I use earth bending to 'see' what's around me!" explained Toph.

"Really? That's amazing!" gushed Corny.

"Not as amazing as your disappearing act!" said the impressed Toph.

"Excuse me? What disappearing act?" said Cornelia.

"When you ran away from the Kyoshi Warriors, you disappeared! How'd you do that?" asked Toph.

"Um, that wasn't my 'plant spirit' powers. I hid under a yaksheep!" admitted the Earth Guardian.

"I knew it had to be something like that!" exclaimed Toph. "Your powers are still pretty incredible, though! Aang, she's the real deal! I felt her make plants grow right under my feet!"

"Is that true?" wondered the Avatar.

"Yep!" answered Cornelia.

"Wow! We could have used you to calm down Hei Bai when the Fire Nation burned down that forest!" said Aang.

"Hei Bai?" said Corny, seeking clarification.

"The Spirit of the Forest." answered Aang.

"Oh! I think I met him! We talked when I was in the forest! Didn't give his name, though. A little rude, but nice!" said Cornelia, speaking of the Spirit of the Forest as if he were just another guy at school. "He told me to 'tend my own garden'. It was actually good advice!"

"You talked...to Hei Bai?" said a dumbstruck Aang.

"Well, yeah! I mean, how many Spirits of the Forest are there?" replied the Earth Guardian. "It's no big deal. On my world, we call it 'greenspeaking'!"

"He's never talked to me!" moaned Aang. "And I'm the Avatar!"

"Oh. Well, maybe he doesn't have anything to say to you?" offered Cornelia. "You are the Avatar, after all, and know all that stuff already, right?"

"Wow. You all know each other. Small world, huh?" said Sokka.

"Except this 'Avatar Hay Lin'! The nerve, calling herself the Avatar! She's not...!" said the angry Katara.

Then the Guardians parted and revealed Hay Lin.

Behind them.

Floating.

In the air.

Without wings, or anything of that sort to hold her aloft.

Except a controlled updraft of air.

"...Oh. My." said the stunned water bender.

The others were equally shocked.

Especially Aang.

"Uh, hi." said the demure Air Guardian, as she hovered above the ground. "Sorry for the whole 'Avatar' thing. I shouldn't have let people call me that, but they were so nice, and I didn't want to upset them." said the apologetic Hay Lin.

"That's okay." said Aang. "Are you really an air bender? Because I thought I was the last one!"

"Sort of. Not really." explained Hay Lin. "Where I come from, I'm the Air Guardian. So I do have air powers. Want to see?" said the compassionate air sprite. Just the thought of someone so young, like Aang, being so alone made her sad, so she wanted to cheer him up.

"Uh huh." said the young Avatar with the puppy dog face.

Hay Lin then demonstrated her powers for the quartet.

She flew through the air, twisting, turning and diving like an air master!

She blew great winds, both hot and cold, through the town!

Then she created a tornado that bore all of the Guardians and Aang's friends aloft, before gently depositing them onto the ground (although Toph didn't enjoy it, they were all impressed!).

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause!

But one didn't cheer, or applaud.

In fact, it almost seemed as if he was going to...cry.

Quickly, Hay Lin took Aang into her arms and embraced him.

"It's okay, Aang." she consoled him, her body shielding his emotional reaction from the public.

"I, I thought I was the last one!" he blurted out, the tears running down his face.

"You're not alone anymore, okay?" she cooed. "It's gonna be alright."

"They make such a cute couple, don't you think?" commented Jif.

"Why are you still here?" said an annoyed Sokka.

"Well, uh, nice meeting you, but we really have to go!" said Katara, in an attempt to separate Aang and Hay Lin.

"That's too bad." said their leader, Will. "Because we really need to talk to Aang. Is there someplace private we can go?"

"Please, Katara!" pleaded Aang.

"I...suppose we can talk. Sure. We're just on vacation, right? Plenty of time for that!" said the water bender, who suddenly felt as if everything she knew, her entire reality, was being turned inside out. A flying fire bender. A plant spirit. A water bender who wasn't a water bender. A lightning bender that Aang called a weird name, four in something. And an air bender, when they were all supposedly wiped out! It was all too strange!

But not everyone shared Katara's reservations.

Over cups of fizzy tea, the two groups talked.

"Did you really beat Azula?" asked Toph.

"Um hm. Pow! Right in the kisser!" answered Will.

"You punched her? Why didn't we think of that?" replied Toph Bei Fong.

"Hey, since you're a plant spirit, could you get a message to my friend? She's a spirit, too!" said Sokka, referring to Princess Yue.

_"Ugh!" _thought Cornelia. _"Why do all the weirdos hit on me?"_

Trying to make conversation, the nervous Katara asked Irma "So, uh, what Tribe are you from?".

"I'm not from any tribe." replied the curt Irma. "Never mind, You wouldn't understand. Let's just say we're not from around here!"

After finally prying Aang from the side of Hay Lin, Will and Taranee patiently explained how their mighty object, the Heart of Candracar, was stolen by Prince Zuko, and they have to get it back before he does something terrible with it, like destroy whole towns or even nations, and also so they can defeat another from their world who's up to no good.

Aang listened, but didn't have near the reaction to this bit of bad news as Katara did.

She was horrified!

"Aang, this is terrible!" said Katara to Aang, in private.

"What? It's Zuko! We can take him easy!" replied the nonchalant air bender. "Hey, you've go to see this 'photo' thing! Hay Lin had a picture of her trainers in her bag, and they looked like Air Monks! Although she said they weren't Air Monks, but some Council of Candracarny or something."

"That's nice, Aang, but that's not important! Weren't you listening?" said the exasperated water bender. "With this Heart of Candracar, Zuko could beat you without working up a sweat!"

"Do fire benders sweat? Katara, it's just some jewel! How bad can it be?" said the clueless Aang.

"So you're going to help them?" inquired Katara.

"Haven't decided. I'm still on vacation." said the 12-year old Avatar.

"This is serious, Aang!" replied Katara. "These people are very odd! A fire bender who flies. A girl with plant powers. That lightning bender, you called her a four-in-one, or something like that!"

"I did? I don't remember that." said Aang.

"Yes. You did. Plus, that water bender of theirs isn't a real water bender. And she zapped Sokka's mind somehow, back when we first met!" informed Katara. "Their powers are unnatural, and I don't know if we should help them."

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" said the quick-witted Avatar.

"Huh?" said the Water Tribe girl.

"Hay Lin? Something wrong with her, too?" added the testy Aang.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with her! Only that I'm concerned about what could happen to us if we help them." explained Katara.

"Hei Bai says they're okay." rationalized Aang. "So they're probably okay. Oh. That reminds me. Did you know Hay Lin can turn invisible? Later, we're going to sneak up on skunk bears!" he said, smiling in anticipation of all the fun they were going to have.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, Aang!" pointed out Katara. "These girls have strange powers! They're not benders at all! Aang, they may look like us, but there's small, subtle differences. They're not like us! Two of them even have wings! Think about that! They're weird, and probably dangerous! We don't even know where they're from! The water girl, Irma, didn't know what the Fire Nation was when I first met her!"

"I thought you cared about me, Katara!" said the hurt Aang. "A real friend would be happy that I found someone like me, an air bender, so I'm not so alone anymore! And not coming up with excuses to get rid of her!"

"But I do care about you, Aang! That's why I'm saying this!" pleaded Katara of the Water Tribe. "Don't be mad at me for that! And I am happy that you found someone. But..."

"Maybe we're just tired." said Aang, stopping the conversation before either of them said something they might regret. "We'll rest now, and tomorrow we'll finish our vacation. We'll decide later if we're going to help the Guardians. Okay?"

"Sure, Aang." agreed Katara. "Sleep well."

From outside the domicile where both the Guardians and Aang & Co. were spending the night, a voice rang out.

"Excuse me! Does anyone have one of those Plant Spirit dolls? The trading post was all out!" asked fanboy Jif.

"Will you get out of here?" yelled Sokka from inside the home. "People are trying to sleep!"

"But I just need..." begged Jif.

"An introduction to my boomerang?" threatened Sokka.

"I'm gone!" said Jif, running away.

_Hey, Sokka, don't be so rough on the dude!_

_The Plant Spirit dolls __are__ very hard to find!_

_I remember at the Disney Store, hers was the only one sold out!_

_I mean…never mind. Forget I said that!_

_I know nothing about dolls. Nothing about dolls…_

_Next:_

_The Guardians and Aang's group learn more about each other_

_when the Guardians learn bending from the masters._

_A good idea? Not really._

_But first:_

_Aang has a dream about the Guardians!_

Notes

You can see the Guardians wearing their new Avatarworld outfits in a _professionally drawn illustration _at wwwdotteenheroinesdotcomslashWalkFinal.jpg or use the link to the pic on my profile page.

The powers exhibited by most of the Guardians are rather new and unique to the Avatar's world. Will's 'lightning bending' is rare (and no one does it like her). Taranee's unique because she's a 'good' fire bender (and of course Will and Taranee have wings, which is unknown there). Water benders are fairly common, but none 'bend' like Irma. 'Plant Spirit' Cornelia is in a class all by herself. And then there's the Guardians' 'extra powers' - telepathy, suggestion, invisibility, telekinesis, talking to electrical appliances. The only one with powers similar to Aang's world is Hay Lin, whose air powers are almost identical to an air bender. And everyone loves Hay Lin. She's sweet.

I see Jif as like that excitable guy who always went nuts whenever Aang & friends visited Kyoshi Island, but more verbal. He's standing in for all the fanboys and fangirls who want to see certain characters get together.

I edited the end of Chapter 23 when I wrote this chapter. I added lines where Aang learned about the Guardians, and introed the fan character, so go back and read that if you want to get the full treatment.


	37. Interlude 10: Aang's Bad Dream

Interlude Ten: Aang Dreams About The Guardians

It was a pleasant day, a day not unlike many others.

Blue skies.

A slight breeze that gently filled their robes.

Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph were together.

Life was good.

Even the Guardians were there, laughing and joking and having a good time.

But, oddly enough, two of the Guardians appeared...younger. All their clothes were different. And none had wings.

Then he was there.

Zuko!

Flames shot up and engulfed Zuko, but the nasty Prince didn't care!

Instead, he laughed, and laughed, the evil sound filling Aang's ears.

Then shadowy arms pulled Aang away from Katara and the others!

Aang was helpless!

He cried out, but the Guardians were gone!

Then, in the distance, five winged girls hung in the now stormy sky.

The Guardians?

Two of them looked like the Guardians he knew, but three looked different. Older.

Aang called out to them.

Begged them!

Pleaded for help!

But they hovered, motionless, in the ether, their vibrating wings the only evidence they possessed the ability to move.

The one who looked like an older Hay Lin had sadness etched on her face. So sad.

But even she would not lift a finger to help Aang.

"Hay Lin" only stared at Aang with those big, brown eyes of hers, then averted her gaze when it obviously became too painful to continue to watch.

Then Aang felt the Avatar State build within him, and everything went...

White.

"Ahhh!!"

Aang woke with a start, almost swimming in the sweat pouring out of his body.

"Aang?" said the concerned Katara, running into Aang's room. "I heard you cry out. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. Just a dream." replied the shaken young Avatar. "Just a bad dream."

_Next:_

_The Guardians learn bending from Sifu Aang, Sifu Katara and Sifu Toph!_

_But all is not sweetness and light._

_There's trouble brewing, just below the surface._


	38. Bend, But Not Break

Chapter 25: Bend, But Not Break

Aang the Avatar stood in the middle of a field.

He appeared to be practicing his air bending, striking at the empty sky with his formidable air powers while uttering empty exclamations.

"Hee-ya!" he yelled, and then let loose with a blast of air.

"Aang? What are you doing?" asked the curious Katara.

"Playing invisible air tag with Hay Lin." answered the young Avatar, while planning his next move.

Then he wheeled around and bent a ball of air into the atmosphere at the ten o'clock position.

"Got ya!" exclaimed Aang.

"Oh. Well, I hope you didn't forget what we talked about yesterday." replied the water bender.

"I didn't." said Aang, carefully calculating Hay Lin's position.

"I just don't want this to distract you from your mission, Aang. That's all." added Katara.

"I haven't forgotten my mission, Katara!" said the annoyed air monk. "Air tag isn't a simple game! It can only be played with another air bender! Air tag was used by my people to develop our skills. It's usually done blindfolded, but there's no need for that with Hay Lin. Now where did she go?" he said, sensing the flow of air around him.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" said the embarrassed bender of water.

"You should be." retorted the thoughtless Aang, still 'looking' for Hay Lin.

"Hey! There's no need for that kind of tone, mister!" said the offended Katara.

"What? I didn't mean it like that, Katara!" said the apologetic Avatar.

Hay Lin took advantage of the opportunity and snuck up on the distracted air bender.

**POW**

Right in the face!

"Mmmm." said Aang, plowing his finger through the food on his face and then licking the cream off his finger. "Fruit pies!"

"You go right ahead with your fruit pies and tag playing, Aang! Do whatever you want!" said the miffed Water Tribe girl as she walked away.

"But, Katara...!" pleaded Aang.

"Uh oh." said Toph, hearing the goings on. "The grownups are fighting!"

"But I'm not fighting." said Sokka.

"Like I said." replied the acerbic Toph.

"I'm sorry. Aang. I don't want to cause any trouble between you and your girlfriend. Maybe I should go." said the sensitive Hay Lin.

"What? Katara's not my girlfriend!" denied the slightly shocked Avatar.

"Really? I could have sworn...Well, I don't want to come between you and your friend, then." offered the Air Guardian.

"Don't worry about Katara. She's fine! She's just a little cranky because she woke up in the middle of the night!" said Aang, explaining away Katara's behavior.

"Oh? Bad dream?" replied Hay Lin.

"Something like that." said Aang. "Now where were we? I believe I was winning!"

"In your dreams!" said the playful Guardian of Air, unaware of the irony in her statement.

Aang and Hay Lin then resumed their game of air tag.

Watching them were Hay Lin's associates, the Guardians - Will, Taranee, Irma and Cornelia.

To anyone nearby, particularly Sokka and Toph, the four girls standing close together with intense looks on their faces seemed curious, but hardly sinister.

They had no idea what was really going on.

The Guardians were 'speaking' to each other - telepathically!

_Think they'll help us? _asked Cornelia.

_I don't know. Hard to say. Maybe it doesn't matter. If we stay close, Zuko's bound to show up sooner or later! _said their leader, Will.

_Are you kidding? Have you seen how fast that sky bison is? I don't know if we can keep up! _informed Taranee.

_Maybe I can 'suggest' a partnership to Aang? _offered Irma.

_Let's keep that as a 'Plan B'. But don't tell Hay Lin. I don't want to upset her. Speaking of Hay Lin, she's given me an idea. Follow my lead. _said the Guardians' leader.

Breaking away from her group, Will approached Aang.

"Aang? Excuse me, but I've heard how this 'bending' is all about controlling the flow of energy in your body. Well, I'm all about energy, so maybe you can teach me a few moves that will help me?" Will politely asked the Avatar, soon-to-be master of all four elements.

"Oh? Sure, I can do that!" said the helpful Aang. "If that's okay with you, Hay Lin?" he said, turning to his playmate.

"Of course, silly! Go ahead! We can play air tag anytime!" said Hay Lin, taking the hint from her leader. "Appa probably needs a bath, anyway. I can fly him through the falls while you train Will."

"Each element - air, water, earth and fire - has its own style. Which one are you?" asked the Avatar.

"I'm sort of all of the elements combined, so you better show me all of them." Will answered.

"O-kay. Looks like we'll be here for a while, then." replied Aang, the joy of the day diminishing in the face of such a workload.

"Toph? Could you teach me earth bending?" requested Cornelia.

"What? Why would a 'plant spirit', or so-called Earth Guardian, need training in earth bending?" replied the skeptical Toph, who had been kicking back with a fruity beverage.

"Hey, every little bit helps! Please?" asked Cornelia Hale, ever so nicely.

"Uh, Katara? I'd really like to learn water bending. I don't know too much about it. If it's not too much trouble, that is?" said the hesitant Irma Lair.

"You want to learn water bending?" replied the surprised Katara. She hadn't anticipated this. The powers of these Guardians, surface similarities aside, were obviously very different from their own elemental abilities. What could she possibly have to offer Irma? But the request intrigued her. So...

"Okay! I'll show you the basics first." said Katara. "Did you know we get our power from the moon?"

"No, I didn't know that." said Irma.

"I don't suppose you can teach me anything?" said Taranee to Sokka.

"About fire bending? No. About any kind of bending? No. But I do know how to make knots!" said Sokka, quickly tying a string. "See?"

"Sighhh." replied Taranee.

Soon, Will, Cornelia and Irma were learning basic forms and stances.

"Wow!" You're right, Aang! I do feel the energy moving through my body now! It's amazing!" said Will Vandom, while practicing the air bender martial art of Ba Gua.

"And I thought** I **was a quick learner!" commented Aang.

"The key to earth bending is your stance. You have to be completely rooted, physically and mentally unmovable!" barked Toph.

"Like this?" said Corny, planting her feet and arms as directed by Toph.

"Good!" responded the earth bending master. "Now let's see what you've got!"

"Water bending is all about push and pull, like the Moon and the Ocean." said Katara, demonstrating the art of bending water to Irma. "Why don't you try it?"

"You're right! I see what you mean!" said Irma Lair, trying to copy what Katara was doing.

However...

Irma pushed when Katara pulled, crashing the waves of water together and dissipating them!

"You weren't even trying to bend water, were you?" asked Katara, in a calm but disappointed voice.

"Sorry. My powers just don't work that way." said the sheepish Irma. " Will means well with this whole training thing, but she doesn't know as much about this world as some of us."

"Really? Why is that?" asked the curious water bender.

"Because she was imprisoned for most of the time she was here." answered Irma.

"But why didn't you...were you in prison, too?" said Katara, who simply had to know more.

"No. We got separated when we first came to this world. We only recently got back together, and then that whole Zuko mess..." said the Water Guardian. "Katara, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to learn more about water bending. Can you answer one question for me?"

"Okay, sure." said Katara, anxious as to what kind of question it could be.

"Do all water benders have healing abilities?" asked Irma.

"No. It's a rare gift that only a few water benders possess." replied the Water Bending Master. "Why would you think all water benders could heal?" she asked the Water Guardian.

"There was an Earth Kingdom general. He..." began Irma Lair. " Never mind. Thank you, Katara." said Irma, who then hugged the water bender.

As Irma walked away, Katara, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected hug, could only wonder what was going on in Irma's head.

However, the Water Tribe girl's reverie was broken by a scream.

"Ahhh!! Stop!"

It was Toph!

Floating in the air!

Tumbling in the sky, head over heels!

Aang rushed to her side first. Everyone else soon followed.

"What are you doing to her?" Aang screamed at Cornelia.

"She was making fun of my 'earth bending' abilities, so I thought I'd show her what I can really do!" said the prideful telekinetic.

"Cornelia!" chastised Will.

"What? She doesn't have to be a big baby about it!" said Cornelia. "Alright, I'll put her down!"

Toph dropped, and her bare feet hungrily gripped Mother Earth.

"Toph? Are you okay?" said the concerned Katara.

"I'm fine. But that's, that's just weird!" said Toph Bei Fong. "How can an earther separate things from the Earth so easily like that?"

"I always thought it was because I'm so in tune with the world that I can separate things from it! The earth is mine to command, after all!" replied the Earth Guardian. "See?" she added, ordering plants to sprout from the ground.

"Get away from me, weirdie!" exclaimed the caustic Toph. "Even her hair smells like plants!"

"Thanks for noticing! It's my conditioner!" said the sarcastic Cornelia.

"How do you do that 'plant bending' and moving things through the air?" said the inquisitive Aang. "I've never seen that style before! Did it take you a long time to learn to do that?"

"Mmm, we practiced a few afternoons." replied the Guardian of Earth, thinking back to when the girls first got their elemental powers.

"That's it??" said the shocked Avatar.

"And to use my power I just wave my arms...like this!" said Cornelia, matter-of-factly, as she levitated a wood table with ease.

"Power like that...with hardly any training or effort??" said the stunned Aang.

"Uh huh! Isn't it great?" said the clueless Cornelia.

"Most benders have to practice for years before they can bend anything!" stated the Avatar.

"What can I say? I've got the touch!" boasted Cornelia Hale. "Although I'm only at half power right now. Usually I can do even more!"

Aang could only stare at her in open-mouthed disbelief.

"Way to go, Corny!" criticized Will. "We're supposed to be asking these people for their help, not antagonizing them or freaking them out!"

"Toph started it!" complained Cornelia.

"I don't even want to hear it!" said the leader of the Guardians.

"All right! I'm sorry! I won't do it again, okay?" said the Earth Guardian.

"Don't tell me! Tell her!" said Will, pointing to Toph.

"Fine!" agreed Corny, who then walked over to the master earth bender to apologize.

"Sorry, Aang!" said Will to the Avatar. "It's been a long trip for us. Have you...thought about what we discussed?"

"Uh huh. We'll talk later." said the cool Aang, brushing her off.

"Great! Smooth move, Will!" said the Energy Guardian, chastising herself this time.

_Next:_

_The combined group, a bit on edge after recent revelations, unwinds by seeing the sights: _

_The Wonder Spot, The Temple of the Earth Spirits, and the First Battlefield of the Earth Kingdom!_

_And then, wouldn't you know, an uninvited guest shows up to ruin the party!_

_Plus:_

_Corny uses her powers to get back in Toph's good graces_

_(and freaks out Aang even more!)_

_Cornelia is definitely the one to party with!_

Notes

Fruit pies were, of course, the Air Nomads' chief agricultural crop. (Episode 2-10, The Library).

Aang last threw cakes (similar to pies) with Monk Gyatso 100 years ago. (Episode 1-3, the Southern Air Temple).

I invented air tag. Aang uses currents in the air the same way Toph uses vibrations in the ground - to 'see' what's there.


	39. Vacation All I Ever Wanted

Previously, on W.I.T.C.H. In The World of Avatar...

_"The 10,000 Terracotta Warriors were buried with the first Earth King, Quo Jin! No one knows why." said the manager of the local attractions. "Some say they are all that remains of a great battle. After Quo Jin defeated Warlord Kang and united the Earth Kingdom, he set his sights on the other nations, but was foiled when the mightiest of the ancient avatars, the earth bender Wen Tao, ended the first war between the nations by turning Quo Jin's warriors & their horses into terracotta. Or so says the legend. But most think the Terracotta Warriors were a funeral gift for the next world, to rule an empire in the afterlife."_

_"Actually, they're both right!" said Aang, the reincarnation of all previous Avatars._

Chapter 26: Vacation All I Ever Wanted

_Vacation_

_All I ever wanted_

_Vacation_

_Had to get away_

_Vacation_

_Meant to be spent alone_

- Vacation, by the Go-Gos

Later, away from the others, Aang and Katara talked of the day's events.

"I think you were right about them, Katara" said the solemn Aang. "We shouldn't have anything to do with these 'Guardians'!"

"Really?" replied the Water Tribe girl. "Because I think I was wrong about them. I overreacted."

"What??" said the surprised Avatar. "You're the one who said they're weird and dangerous!" he said, sounding very annoyed with his friend's reversal of opinion.

"I know, I know!" said Katara. "Their powers are strange, and off-putting, but I think what I didn't like about them was that, here you are, the Avatar, who has to learn how to bend all four elements and defeat the Fire Lord before Sozin's comet returns, and now someone else is throwing a whole new problem in your lap! It wasn't fair to you, Aang! But I wasn't very fair to the Guardians, either. They're not bad people. I mean, they did save Avatar Town from the Fire Nation! Everyone says so."

"What brought on this change of heart?" asked Aang.

"The one with water powers, Irma, opened up to me. I get the feeling these girls have been through a lot." said the sensitive water bender. "Why are you so worried about them? Because of the incident with Toph? She'll get over it."

"Not exactly. I had a dream. About the Guardians." responded Aang. "Zuko was there, too, and the Guardians, even Hay Lin, didn't lift a finger to help us!"

"So, you think they're using you as bait?" inquired Katara.

"I don't know. It was a very strange dream! The Guardians changed, and were all different ages! But it felt so real!" said the confused Avatar.

"It was just a dream, Aang!" consoled Katara. "It's only natural that, after five strange beings with odd powers turn up and tell you that your worst enemy is ultra-powerful and coming for you, that you would be a little anxious, and that would be reflected in your dreams. Besides, you don't really think Hay Lin would refuse to help you, do you? She seems...like a very nice girl." added Katara, treading carefully on the subject of Aang's feelings for Hay Lin, Hay Lin's feelings for Aang, and Katara's own feelings for the air bender.

"I know! That's why I don't get it!" replied Aang. "And I know they saved that town. Plus, if Zuko does show up with crazy new powers, we could probably use their help! But I think there's other stuff we don't know about them."

"What do you mean?" asked Katara.

"I heard rumors of an attack by the Fire Nation on Ba Sing Se, and when I asked around, someone said flying fire benders were involved!" revealed the Avatar.

"So? It was probably Zuko! He's crazy!" reasoned the water bender.

"No! Flying fire bender**s**! More than one! Who else could that be?" suggested Aang, referring to Taranee.

"But why would the Guardians attack Ba Sing Se? That makes no sense!" stated the emphatic Water Tribe lass.

"Because they were holding my friend captive." admitted Taranee Cook, with Will Vandom at her side. "Sorry. Couldn't help overhearing. You deserve to know the truth if you're going to help us."

Will and Taranee then proceeded to tell Aang and Katara the full story of their visit to the Avatar's world.

How all of the Guardians were separated, and each underwent trials on their own before they were finally reunited and set out to restore the Heart to its rightful owner and end the threat of Phobos.

How Will, feared as a member of the Fire Nation since she was a 'lightning bender', was captured by the Dai Li and kept prisoner in the catacombs of old Ba Sing Se.

How Taranee had to fight, alone, against the army of the city to break her out.

How both of them tried to stop Zuko from burning the city of Ba Sing Se, but were unsuccessful because the man in charge didn't trust them.

How the others were lost in the Earth Kingdom, as well.

How Cornelia joined the Freedom Fighters, but was taken advantage of by their charismatic, but overzealous, rebel leader.

"She knew Jet?" asked Katara.

"Yep! Don't even get her started on that guy! She'll talk your ear off!" said Taranee.

Continuing their story, Will and Taranee told the air bender and water bender how Irma had to take whatever jobs she could, just to survive.

And how Hay Lin had to work for a very demanding group of people, because they promised to help her find her friends. Except that was a lie, because they weren't about to let her go.

"Wow. That's just terrible." said Aang, after hearing of Hay Lin's plight.

"Well?" asked Will, who had concluded her tale. "Will you help us?"

"I..." said Aang, thinking it over, trying to find a reason to delay his decision.

"3 for 1!" announced the amusement vendor. "Get your tickets here! See 3 attractions for the price of 1!"

"Oh! What a great deal! Excuse me!" said Aang, zipping off to purchase tickets.

"Is he always like that?" asked Will.

"Uh huh." said Katara. "Exactly like that!"

"Katara!" announced the excited Aang. "We don't have to argue about which place to see! These tickets are good for all three! Wonder Spot, Temple of Earth Spirits, and the Battlefield!"

"But what about Wang Wong Wei's home and studio?" asked the water bender.

"Errrr...It's good for all three?" repeated Aang, fishing for Katara's approval while flashing a toothy grin.

"Sighhh. Okay, Aang, we'll see all three!" said Katara, caving in.

"Great!Let'sgettheothers!" said the hyperactive Avatar, as he bent an air ball and rode it into town in search of Toph and Sokka.

"So, what should we do, Will?" asked Taranee Cook.

"What else? Get tickets!" replied Will Vandom.

Meanwhile, in town, Cornelia (accompanied by Irma) was trying to persuade Toph (accompanied by Sokka) to accept her apology.

"Come on Toph! I said I was sorry!" begged Corny.

"Do you hear something, Sokka? Nah. Can't be! Plants don't talk!" said Toph to her companion, doing her best to ignore Cornelia.

Then the 12 year old Toph spied a place serving her favorite - mango beverage!

However...

"Sorry, kid! You're too young!" said the barkeep.

"How about me?" asked the 15 year old Sokka. "Can I have one!"

"Beat it, you kids! This is for adults!" roared the bartender.

"Hey! I used to work in a bar!" said the peeved Irma Lair, as she was kicked out along with the others.

"Allow me, Toph." offered Cornelia.

"What are you going to do? Weird him out?" scoffed Toph.

"This ought to be good." cracked Irma.

Cornelia then shapeshifted into her older self.

"You can grow? How?" said the quizzical earth bender, sensing the change in Cornelia's height through her connection to the land.

" 'Plant Spirit' powers, remember?" explained Corny, trying to sound mysterious.

Cornelia then took off her hat, walked into the bar and ordered the mango concoction.

"Excuse me, sir." said the decidedly non-earthy Earth Guardian, batting her eyelashes at the manly server of refreshing beverages. "May I have the mango drink?" she asked, while shaking her hair like a supermodel in a shampoo commercial.

"Of course, miss!" said the bartender, who was only too happy to comply. "Nice hair!" he complimented.

"Thanks! I hear it's all the fashion!" replied the beaming Cornelia Hale.

Exiting the bar, the Guardian of Earth resumed her true age and form and handed the mango liquid to a grateful Toph.

"Still think I'm weird?" inquired Cornelia.

"Yeah." said Toph, guzzling her drink. "But good weird!"

"That trick's also good for getting out of a ticket!" joked Irma.

"What?" said Sokka.

"Never mind." replied the Water Guardian.

Across the street, Aang watched in stunned silence.

He turned to Katara and asked her, "Did you see that?"

"What? You mean Toph doing something totally inappropriate?" said the peeved Katara.

"No! Cornelia changed her appearance! Just like in my dream!" said the anxious Avatar.

"But you said the others changed their appearance, too." said the logical-minded water bender, who then asked her Guardian counterpart "Irma, can you or the others change size at will?"

"Not really, no. Only Corny can do that. The rest of us..." said Irma Lair, who was cut off before she could explain that the Heart transforms them.

"See, Aang?" said Katara, interrupting Irma's response. "There's nothing to worry about! Relax!"

"I guess. Ah, the heck with it! We're on vacation! And I've got tickets!" said the enthusiastic air bender, showing Toph and Sokka the 3 for 1 tickets he bought.

"Now where's Hay Lin?" said Aang, taking a look around.

_Where __is__ Hay Lin? _asked Will of the telepathic Taranee.

_She ran into some fans. She'll be here soon. _thought-replied Taranee.

Then Aang spotted Hay Lin near a small crowd.

"Hay Lin!" called out Aang. "I've got tickets to the Wonder Spot, Temple of Earth Spirits, and the Battlefield! Want to go?"

"Sure, Aang!" agreed the nervously smiling Air Guardian, as she frantically tried to hide the tea cozies, banners and, (in a surprise even to her), the scrolls that fans had written about her, and which she had been signing, because they all said 'Avatar Hay Lin' on them. If Aang had seen them, she would have been hugely embarrassed!

"Hey, what's with the crowd? One of those singing 'celebrities' here?" asked Aang.

"Maybe. Something like that!" replied the quick-talking Hay Lin. "Temple of WonderBattle sounds like fun! Let's go!" she said, as she took him by the hand and led him away.

"But shouldn't we see who it is?" said the curious air bender.

"Nah! No one you haven't seen before!" downplayed Hay Lin.

Which was the truth, since Aang did know Hay Lin. He just wasn't aware of the celebrity aspect of her.

The crowd, left behind, couldn't resist making a comment or two of their own.

"Hey! Isn't that..?" asked one member of the group.

"The Avatar? Yeah, I think it is!" replied another.

"Don't they make a cute couple?" said one rather silly fan.

After Aang and Hay Lin had re-joined Katara, Sokka and Toph, they proceed to the first of the attractions, the Wonder Spot, which was on the edge of town.

Will and the other Guardians had one question for Aang.

"Mind if we join you?" inquired the Energy Guardian.

"I suppose not." replied the coolly impersonal Avatar.

Then, realizing he was letting his annoyance at their intrusion show, and not wanting to upset his new friend, Hay Lin, Aang smiled weakly and added "It's not like we can stop you from walking around town!" so they would think he was joking.

But no one was fooled.

_Not too awkward, huh, guys? _thought Taranee to Will, Irma and Cornelia.

_Never mind. Just stay close to them, okay?" _ordered Will, the leader of the Guardians.

Venturing into the Wonder Spot, Aang was one thrilled air bender!

"Wow! Look at this!" shouted the impressed Aang.

"Water flows uphill!" he said as he stared at the gravity-defying liquid.

"Balls roll up an incline! Pendulums hang crookedly!" he added as he gazed in wonder at the balls and pendulum.

"Chairs balance on only two legs! And we can't stand straight or walk without leaning!" Aang said as he tried to keep his balance, and failed.

"It's all an optical illusion!" insisted the quick-witted Taranee. "They claim gravity doesn't work in these places, but that's bogus!"

"Uh, what's gravity?" asked Sokka.

"What's bogus?" asked Toph.

"Look..." said the Fire Guardian, holding her hand to her forehead, as she was very exasperated. Taranee realized she had to make things easier to understand. "This place is built on a side of a hill...at an angle!"

From the outside, the truth of Taranee's words could be seen.

Inside, the others finally had their revelation.

"Ohhh." they uttered.

The next stop on the tour, The Temple of the Earth Spirits just outside town, certainly looked impressive.

It was a large and gracious building. The exterior was monumental, to say the least, and the level of architectural detail was stunning.

Then the heavy metal doors opened by themselves, ushering the (mostly) surprised group inside.

Will, Taranee, Cornelia, Irma, Hay Lin, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph (and Momo) entered, and the interior did take their breath away.

Vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, decorative statuary, illustrated banners hung from the rafters, and painted walls that told the story of the Earth Spirits.

Then, above them, a vehicle of those same Earth Spirits, with no means of support, flew across the ceiling!

"Wow!" said Sokka.

"Awesome!" said Irma.

"What's the big deal? It's obviously earth bending!" commented Cornelia.

"No. I know earth bending, and trust me, that's not earth bending!" said Toph. "Those were metal doors! And bent earth doesn't move like that!" added the earth bending girl, who received an image of the vehicle at the beginning and end of its journey, when it was in contact with the walls.

"Like you knew I was a 'plant spirit' even though I was really hiding under the yaksheep?" needled Corny.

"Hmphh!" Toph retorted, arms folded in disgust.

"Well, it can't be air bending!" said Aang, the last air bender. "There was no movement of air up there!"

Then suddenly, a burst of fire!

"Hello, Earth pilgrims!" said the Earth Monk, who appeared as if out of nowhere to the appreciative, gasping crowd "Welcome to our Temple! Would you like to make a monetary sacrifice to the Earth Spirits?"

"Oh, I see what this is about!" said the perceptive, and skeptical, Taranee Cook.

"Taranee, I don't think we want to anger the Earth Spirits!" said Katara, digging into her coin pouch. "I've seen what they can do! They created the Great Divide because they weren't given the proper sacrifices!"

"What? That's a load of hooey!" replied the scientific Taranee.

"Hooey?" said Aang.

"Look over here!" said the Fire Guardian, directing everyone's attention to the metal door that 'opened by itself'. Taranee knocked on the door at various points. When the sound changed, because that part of the door was hollow, she flipped open a hidden panel and revealed "See? There are gears in the doors!"

Then Taranee flew up to the ceiling and said "There's a movable track above the cart! And in that track...Ta da! Magnets!" she said, presenting the magnets for all to see. The magnets then pulled the cart right to them.

"But what about..?" began Sokka, referring to the Earth Monk's fiery entrance.

"That? Flash powder." answered the Guardian of Fire, as she lobbed some of the powder in the air and incinerated it, with spectacular results. "Want to try for yourself?" she said, as she handed the flash powder to Sokka.

"Ah. Maybe not today." said the Water Tribesmen, unnerved at handling anything to do with fire.

"Is she always like this?" Aang asked Hay Lin.

"Well, sort of." replied the hesitant Guardian of Air.

"Yes. She is." added Irma Lair. "Taranee's pretty smart! But she's usually not this Scoobyish!"

"Scoobyish?" said the puzzled Avatar.

"Ah, that's the Fire Nation for you! They all think they're so smart!" said Sokka of the Water Tribe in a dismissive tone of voice.

"Hey! I'm not 'Fire Nation'!" denied Taranee. "And I'm not trying to be smart! I don't mind if they want to put on a show!" she insisted. "That's fine, if that's how they present it! But when they tell you it's real, and play on your fears to get you to donate, that's where I draw the line!"

"Our fears?" said the clueless Water Tribe boy.

"Didn't you notice?" said Taranee. "They tried to impress you with stunts that appeared to be metal bending, air bending and fire bending, because they knew the Earth Kingdom people visiting the Temple wouldn't understand those things, and everyone fears what they don't understand!"

"But Earth Spirits **are** real!" said the wise Katara. "Regardless of how the Monks operate their temple, they are trying to do good. Maybe the Monks' stunts increased sacrifices so much that the Earth Spirits created Placid Springs?" she said, referring to the earthquakes that created the peaceful water park paradise for kids, and a haven from the war. "So it's not a bad thing!" added Katara, as she gave the Earth Monk a donation.

"Bless you, child." said the appreciative Earth Monk.

"Whatever!" replied Taranee, wishing to end the argument, but not conceding defeat.

"My sister's right." said Sokka to the Monk, as he parted with a few copper pieces for the benefit of the Temple. "But the new girl's got a point. Why use fake air bending, metal bending and fire bending to draw the people in? Why not real earth bending?"

"And do what? Stage an earthquake? That would only upset people!" answered the Earth Monk. "And other forms of earth bending are too common. The more exotic, the better! It's what the people want! Thank you for your donation. Thank you." said the grateful Monk, as he shook the hands of earth worshipers who made monetary sacrifices to the Temple.

"That was fun!" said Aang, upon exiting the Temple. "Now let's get to the Battlefield! You have to see the Terracotta Warriors!"

"Aang is such a kid!" said an amused Will Vandom.

"No wonder they wanted Hay Lin to replace him!" said the loose-lipped Cornelia Hale.

"Corny…" said the irritated Energy Guardian.

"They wanted you to replace me??" said the shocked Avatar to his air-powered companion.

"Oh. Heh! Didn't we mention that?" said the red-faced Hay Lin.

"So? I can see how they would! She's cute as a button!" said the Water Tribe warrior.

"Sokka!" said his sister Katara, who was a bit shocked to hear her brother making a pass at the girl Aang had his eye on.

"I'm just saying, if you were a peddler, who would you like to sell your wares? The bald boy with the arrow tattoos? Or the cute girl with long, luxurious hair? It's no contest! I bet she moved a lot of product!" replied Sokka.

"You think I'm cute? And have luxurious hair?" asked the smitten Guardian of Air.

When she was part of a group (especially this group), usually no one ever acknowledged Hay Lin, because the competition for attention was so fierce. Will was the leader, so she got a lot of respect. Taranee was fiery, and knew a lot, so people noticed and listened to her. Irma was very chatty. 'Personality plus', they called it, without any of the drawbacks that usually came with such a title. And Cornelia...was Cornelia. Enough said. So Hay Lin, bland, ordinary, 'ol Hay Lin, oftentimes melted into the background.

To be singled out, then, was huge!

"Well, I'm just saying! As a statement of fact. It's nice and all, although Cornelia's hair is probably better." said Sokka, turning to face Cornelia with a smile on his face, while deflating Hay Lin's hopes and dreams.

"Ooohh! Sokka's got a girlfriend!" teased Irma.

_Oh, God! _thought Cornelia. _ I'm so embarrassed!_

"What? No! I'm just saying, is all!" denied Sokka of the Water Tribe.

"Sokka, don't you have enough girlfriends?" joked Katara, who wondered if being around so many girls was starting to affect him. So why not give him some grief?

"What's that supposed to mean?" said the studly member of the group.

"There was Yue..." began Katara.

"She's a spirit now, so I don't think she counts!" countered Sokka.

"Suki..." continued the Water Tribe girl.

"Well, I don't know about her. She never really said how she feels, you know, so..." replied the bashful boy warrior.

"And I think that bouncing girl with Princess Azula was giving you the eye!" gossiped Katara.

"Who?" asked Toph.

"You mean the one who paralyzed me?" wondered Sokka.

"Her? Oh yeah, we met her, too!" informed Irma.

"Really?" said Katara.

"You mean Ty Lee?" added Hay Lin, who spent more time with Azula's crew than the others.

"Yeah, Ty Lee! it was great! She paralyzed Corny!" jested the Water Guardian, chuckling at the memory of her friend complaining about being stuck.

"Hey, give me some credit! I wasn't totally frozen!" said the proud Earth Guardian.

"She couldn't block your chi?" inquired Katara.

"Chai? Like that tea?" said Irma.

"What could you move?" asked the water bender.

"I could use my mind." answered Corny. "So I could still move things just by thinking about them!"

"Oh, right, she challenged Mai, the girl who throws knives, to a duel even though she couldn't move! And won!" said Irma who, although she didn't admit it, was impressed with Cornelia's performance that day.

"Wow. So she's got..." said Katara, the thought trailing off.

"Big, brass ones. Uh huh!" said Irma, finishing the thought.

"Irma! Don't be gross!" chastised Cornelia.

They all laughed at that one.

Even Cornelia, after a little prodding.

Then, everyone piled onto Appa. The huge sky bison would take them to their next stop - The Battlefield of the First Earth Kingdom - which was miles outside of town.

Along the way, they talked some more, which pleased Will. The two groups were really starting to bond!

Although it would take quite an effort to get some members of their respective units to gel, and work together.

"I fight, but I rely on weapons, like my boomerang. But you, with no weapons, and stuck in place like that, to stand up to Mai and her scary knives…It must have taken a lot of guts!" said the admiring Sokka, Water Tribe warrior.

"I guess." replied Cornelia. She didn't think what she did was so special. Cornelia was only sticking up for her girls. So she didn't want to get into it. Especially with Sokka. I mean, he seemed nice and all, but after all the drama Corny's been through on this trip, if Vance Michael Justin appeared out of the blue and proposed to her, she'd tell him to take off, too.

Well, okay.

Maybe she wouldn't tell him to take off _right away._

"You know Hei Bai? Hey, me too! Well, I don't know him _personally_. I was kidnapped by him once." said Sokka, rambling on.

_Spare me! _thought Cornelia.

"So, what kind of grub you serve on Air Bison? Salted peanuts, at least?" joked Irma.

"Grub? Aren't grubs worms?" asked Toph.

"My humor is totally wasted on this world!" sighed Irma.

"Aang, I read that the Avatar can remember his past lives. Is that right?" inquired Taranee.

"Yep!" said Aang, who was sitting next to Hay Lin.

"Did you or any other Avatar ever know a Xin Jing?" asked the Fire Guardian.

"No. Why do you ask?" said the curious air bender.

"Well, she was someone on my world who..." Taranee started to answer, before she was stopped by Will.

"Oh, hi Aang! Taranee, can I see you for a sec?" said the Energy Guardian.

"Taranee, what are you doing?" asked the leader of the Guardians.

"What? Aang's a unique resource! He knows first hand events that happened hundreds of years ago!" argued Taranee.

"Concentrate on the mission, Taranee, please?" begged Will. "Leave the book report for after, okay? We don't need the distraction right now. Plus, I don't think he appreciated the question. He seemed a little suspicious."

"But...okay, Will. I'll drop it!" conceded the Fire Guardian.

"Good girl! Also, we should give Appa a break. I don't think he's used to flying so many people around. Not to mention, four's a crowd, wink wink." said Will, motioning to Aang and Hay Lin.

"Huh? Oh, right!" said Taranee, finally figuring it out.

"Hey, Aang, we're going to fly ahead to check things out, okay?" said Will to the Avatar.

"Sure! Have a good flight!" replied the cheerful air bender.

Will and Taranee then took to the skies, powered by their wings.

Taranee reflexively 'flamed on', startling the sky bison, who tumbled onto his side as he quickly darted away from the Guardian of Fire, almost dumping his human cargo in the process.

"Aaaa!" screamed Aang, Hay Lin, Katara, Sokka, Irma, Toph and Cornelia, as they held on for dear life.

"Whoops! Sorry, Appa!" said the remorseful Taranee.

"A flying fire bender! A good flying fire bender! If I ever reach the ripe old age of 40, I will never get used to that! Heck, I'll never get used to it if I survive to 16!" commented Sokka, after Appa corrected his flight and his passengers crawled back into their perches.

"You're not the only one!" said Toph, covered in Appa's fur. (Appa, you see, had a nervous reaction to the close proximity of the flame and shed a lot of fur in an instant). "Fuuu!" said Toph, blowing the fur off her face.

"So, um, Irma, is your world like ours?" asked Katara, trying to change the subject and make conversation.

"Sort of. There are a lot of differences, but there are a lot of similarities, too. I have to say, though, your world has been like a vacation to me!" answered Irma Lair.

"Your world is pretty rough, huh? Is it at war, too?" inquired the Water Tribe girl.

"I wouldn't say we're at war." replied Irma, searching for the right words to describe the situation on Earth. "Except with Phobos! He's pretty bad! He enslaved an entire world, until we stopped him!"

"And he'll do the same to our world?" asked Katara.

"He'll certainly try! Count on it!" said Irma. "As for being rough, well, you obviously haven't been to public school!" she cracked.

Left alone at Appa's reins, Aang and Hay Lin discussed many things.

"So your grandmother was the Air Guardian before you? To learn from a member of your family, that must be great! Each Avatar has to learn on their own, although sometimes we get advice from the previous Avatar's spirit." said Aang, teaching Hay Lin the way of the Avatar.

"Their spirit? You mean like their ghost?" asked Hay Lin.

"Their spirit. In the Spirit World." corrected Aang.

"You have a whole world full of spirits?" quizzed the Guardian of Air.

"Um hmm. I've been there a few times when I've left my body. It's kind of neat, but frightening, too. You don't have a physical form, so you can't touch anybody but you can watch them. And since you're out of your physical body, you have no powers! But the Spirits have power, so you have to watch out for the bad ones!" explained the Avatar.

"Sounds scary! I've only seen one spirit, Cassidy, but she was good, not evil." added Hay Lin.

"It's not that bad! Most spirits don't want to get involved with people, so they avoid you. But enough about the Spirit World! Your world sounds great! No war, a family, friends. It sounds like heaven!" said the upbeat air bender.

"It's not that great! When I'm not at school, or being a Guardian with my friends, I'm working at my folks' restaurant!" replied the over-scheduled air sprite. "What about your family?" she asked. "What were they like?"

"I...don't remember much about them. I was sent away to the Southern Air Temple to live with the Monks at a very young age." confided Aang.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Aang!" said the guilt-ridden Hay Lin.

"No no, it's okay. At the Air Temple, Monk Gyatso was like a father to me. It was a pretty good life. We traveled the world! So I don't have any regrets." admitted Aang. "Everything's okay...Now that you're here." he said, looking in her eyes.

"Oh, Aang! That's so sweet." said the touched Air Guardian.

But Hay Lin was also worried. The Guardians planned to leave this world as soon as their mission was done, but how could she break that bit of news to the young Air Monk?

"Ever since I came back, I've felt so alone, Hay Lin! But not anymore! Thank you." said the grateful air bender.

"Don't be silly, Aang! You're never been alone!" said the Guardian of Air.

Aang regarded her with a quizzical look.

"You've had Appa!" declared Hay Lin.

Aang smiled, and Appa snorted in acknowledgment.

A short distance away, Katara acted like she was sightseeing...

"Hey, look! Wang Wong Wei's home and studio, Huang Shan!" she said, pointing to the Earth architect's home on the hill below them.

"And there it goes!" she added disappointedly, as they flew on.

...But Irma noticed Katara was taking quick glances at Aang and Hay Lin out of the corner of her eye.

The Water Guardian didn't say anything about it, however.

Meanwhile, Sokka's persistence finally wore Corny down.

But not in the way Sokka wanted.

"You actually fight with a boomerang? That's funny!" laughed Cornelia Hale.

"Funny? What's so funny about it?" said the proud warrior. "It's a very good weapon that requires a lot of skill!"

"On my world, it's a toy!" said the culturally unschooled Cornelia, who didn't know of the return weapon's historical origins among the natives of Australia. "Never mind. Do I really remind you of this Yue, or is that a line?"

"No, you do! Really!" stated Sokka. "You're a spirit, she's a spirit. You're, uh…Okay. Not so much."

"It's the hair, isn't it? Because you said Yue had long, white hair, which I take is quite rare in these parts. Kind of like my hair." said the long-tressed, blonde Guardian of Earth.

"Yeah. Kind of hard to ignore the hair!" quipped Sokka. "Princess Yue had great hair, too. Great everything" he sighed.

"Hold on…_Princess _Yue? A Princess was interested in you??" said the skeptical schoolgirl.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" replied the proud Sokka, puffing out his chest.

"You think about this Yue girl, who you say is a spirit, a lot?" asked Cornelia, turning serious for a moment.

"Sometimes. I'll be doing something, like making a tent or whatever, and then she'll just pop up in my head." said Sokka, revealing his tender side. Something he would rarely, if ever, do around Katara or Aang, as he feared they would laugh at him.

"I know what you mean. I've been thinking about Caleb a lot lately." confessed the Earth Guardian.

"Caleb?" inquired the Water Tribesman.

"My boyfriend. It seems such a long time since I've seen him." said Corny.

"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll get back to him soon." consoled Sokka. "A pretty girl like you, he won't forget. I bet he can't wait to see you!"

"Thank you, Sokka." said Cornelia, who then lifted her head and met his gaze.

They stared at each other for only a moment, although it seemed much longer.

Then they leaned toward each other and...

Toph's bare feet appeared between them!

"Toph!!" roared Cornelia. "Get your dirty, stinky feet away from me!"

"Oh. Sorry. I was just stretching out, trying to get comfortable." said the unconvincing earth bender, who had a secret crush on Sokka.

"How can you not wear shoes? It's every woman's God-given right to have as many shoes as she can fit in her closet!" cried the materialistic girl. "There's no reason to go barefoot! That's why we have flip-flops!" she said, continuing her rant.

"Hey! Don't knock it if you haven't tried it!" said the seemingly simple Toph. Cornelia had no idea that Toph, like herself, also came from a moneyed family.

"Barefoot is fine for your bedroom, or at the beach, but...hmmm. Maybe that's not such a bad idea." said Cornelia, thinking it over. "Of course, I'd have to use a lot of foot powder. Unlike someone I could name." she said, taking another shot at the crude Toph.

Toph wanted to respond to Cornelia's wisecrack by making a face, but, as they were on Appa, she couldn't sense whether Cornelia was looking at her or not.

Soon, they were at the outskirts to the Battlefield, and Appa landed.

But the Battlefield of the First Earth Kingdom was far more than a battlefield, actually.

It also incorporated the first Earth King's nearby summer palace. However, neither was considered an 'attraction' until archeologists uncovered the adjoining tomb/necropolis, which stretched over three miles, and contained the 10,000 Terracotta Warriors which were buried next to the Earth King's 250-foot tall earthen pyramid mausoleum to guard him in the afterlife.

The site was so big, they decided to wait for Will and Taranee to return with a scouting report.

While they cooled their heels, Cornelia set to work making herself the center of attention (as usual).

Doffing her shoes, she tested her theory.

"You're right, Toph!" she declared. "I can talk to the plants a lot easier this way!"

"You talk to plants??" said the flabbergasted Toph Bei Fong. "And I thought you couldn't get any weirder!"

"That's not so weird, Toph!" said Katara. "Aang talked to the plants in the Swamp!"

"So what do the plants say, Cornelia?" asked Sokka. "Anything about me?"

"No. Plants aren't real talkative." replied the Earth Guardian. "But they are happy the Avatar is here!"

"Really? Tell them I'm very honored to be in their presence, also!" said Aang, bowing.

"Also, um, everyone step back a bit, okay? I think you're standing on some of them!" added Cornelia.

"Oh! Sorry! Sorry!" they all said, as they backed away.

"Think that's weird, Toph? Know what Corny's favorite hobby is? Ice skating!" said an amused Irma Lair.

"What? At least the talking to plants things makes sense for a 'plant spirit'! But for an earthie to ice skate? That's just bizarre!" said Toph.

"It is not bizarre!" insisted Cornelia Hale. "You know what's really bizarre? That Irma controls water, but not ice!" she said, taking a shot at the Water Guardian.

"Hey!" said the offended Irma.

"Are they always like this?" Katara asked Hay Lin.

"Are you kidding? This is bicker lite!" replied the light-hearted Air Guardian.

"Don't start with me, Cornelia!" dared Irma. "Or maybe we can talk about Jet?" she teased.

"Hmphh!" said Cornelia, turning her back to Irma, arms folded in annoyance.

"She knew Jet?" asked Sokka.

"She sure did! Corny was even a 'freedom fighter' for a while!" said Irma. "But don't worry about the competition, Sokka! We left him in jail in Avatar Town!"

"In jail?" asked Katara.

"Uh huh! We got him arrested for being a dangerous twit!" said the proud Guardian of Water.

"Why didn't we do that, Aang?" wondered Katara.

"What do you mean, Katara?" asked the puzzled Aang.

"Instead of letting him go, we should have made sure he couldn't hurt anybody else." she replied.

"What did you want me to do, Katara?" said the exasperated air bender. "Build a prison and have Appa drag it behind him?"

"No, but we should have done something! That always bothered me!" said the water bender with a conscience.

"It's ancient history! I thought we're supposed to be on vacation!" said the irritated Aang, who then stormed off.

"Aang! I didn't mean..!" began Katara.

But Aang wasn't listening.

He soon gravitated towards Hay Lin

As Aang entertained the air sprite with stories of past Avatars, he tried to forget the drama of the past couple days and instead recapture the fun spirit of adventure and peace he found in Placid Springs.

Katara felt a bit left out, but tried not to let it show.

Irma, though, was quick to pick up on her disappointment.

Feeling responsible, she resolved to do what she could to fix things.

"Katara, you said before you were thinking of a new look." said Irma, offering her services. "I can use my magic to help you with that."

"Um, you're not going to turn me into a platypus bear or anything like that, are you?" said the hesitant water bender.

"No!! You're going to love it! Trust me!" promised Irma. "Now what color should it be? You like blue, so maybe electric blue? Wait! I got it!"

At Irma's command, the color of Katara's robe changed until it was a stunning electric silver!

Bright, shiny, metallic silver! (To go with Aang's tattoos, of course!)

"What the??" said the extremely surprised Katara. "It's so..so..." she said, unable to find the words for such a garish outfit.

"I know! Isn't it?" replied the confident Irma. "If he doesn't notice this, he's dead!"

"Excuse me?" said Katara.

"Never mind!" said the scheming Irma Lair. "Hey, Aang! Come look at this!"

"What are you doing? No!" said the anxious water bender.

"Wow!!" said the pleasantly shocked Avatar. "Who is this incredible creature, and what have you done with Katara?"

"Oh, Aang!" said the blushing Water Tribe girl.

Having gained Aang's attention, Katara then chatted excitedly with him.

It was like they were seeing each other for the first time.

"Irma, you little matchmaker, you!" said an impressed Cornelia.

"I do what I can, for the course of true love is ever kind of rough, or whatever. But it can be profitable!" added Irma.

"What??" said the befuddled Cornelia Hale.

"Just saying, I can inform a certain someone named Caleb about a certain someone named Sokka, or I cannot." replied the sneaky Irma. "It's up to you."

"B, but nothing happened! I mean..." meekly protested Corny.

"Uh huh. Okay. If that's your story." stated the smug Irma.

"How much?" said Cornelia, giving in to the blackmail.

"I'll give you a break. I'll decide when we get back." said Irma.

"You're all heart!" said Cornelia, very sarcastically.

"I know. Isn't that how we started this conversation?" joked Irma.

"What about Hay Lin mooning over Sokka? And Aang? Are you going to tell Eric?" wondered the peeved Earth Guardian, speaking of Hay Lin's boyfriend.

"Oh please! Hay Hay had no chance with Sokka! And Aang's her little buddy! Nice try, though." replied Irma.

Alone, Aang and Katara talked about many things.

Finally, the subject of their feelings came up.

"Aang, I know I spoke out of turn when I warned you away from Hay Lin. That was wrong." said the young water bender, with a heavy heart. "If she makes you happy, then I'm happy for you." she said, smiling a weak smile.

"What are you talking about, Katara?" said the confused Avatar.

"Hay Lin. You love her. Right?" said Katara, speaking as bluntly as possible.

"What?? Hay Lin's great and all, but I don't love her!" said the emphatic Aang.

"You don't??" said Katara, not bothering to hide her glee at the news. "Why not? Because I thought..."

"Because..." said Aang, screwing up the courage to admit his love for his longtime, water bending companion.

Right then, a certain Water Tribe boy just had to interrupt the star-crossed duo with news that was hardly important.

"Hey, Aang, remember when you said Earth Spirits couldn't fly? Well, Cornelia said when she's at full power she has wings and can fly! So there!" exclaimed Sokka.

"What??" replied the stunned Aang, thinking of his dream where Hay Lin, Irma and Cornelia had wings and could fly.

Sokka confirmed one part of his dream!

And if that was true, then...

Before Aang could consider the ramifications of it all, the missing duo appeared.

Will and Taranee!

"Hi, everybody! Sorry we're late! We got a little lost!" admitted Will.

"Yeah. We wound up at the exit, instead of the entrance. Met the curator. Who was a little weird, but...never mind. Let's see this thing!" added Taranee, quickly getting to the point.

Aang couldn't disagree. He did want to get back to his vacation. Anything was better than having to make some crazy Avatar decision!

Or 'talking about his feelings'.

As the group filed into the Palace/Tomb receiving area, they were met by a guide.

"Hello, visitors!" he intoned. "Welcome to the Palace and Tomb of Quo Jin, the first King to unite the Earth Kingdom! And although this complex was built as the Emperor's tomb, oddly enough, the excavators have yet to locate his final resting place!"

"Emperor Quo Jin remains a controversial figure to this day. Although he is revered for creating the Earth Kingdom we know today, and building roads and the first wall around the great city of Ba Sing Se, he also passed many harsh laws and aroused the wrath of the Avatar when he began the First War Between The Nations!" lectured the Guide.

"The First War Between The Nations? We always knew it as The War Between Nations!" commented the 112 year old Aang.

"Yes, Aang, but when the Fire Nation attacked 100 years ago..." pointed out Katara.

"Oh. Right." said the depressed Avatar, who disappeared 100 years ago and so was unable to prevent or end the second war between nations.

"As I was saying..." continued the miffed Guide. "After the earth bender Avatar, Wen Tao, stopped his war, Quo Jin actually tried to outlaw earth bending! You can see how well that succeeded!" he said, drawing laughs from the Earth Kingdom crowd.

"Later in life, Quo Jin became obsessed with the Spirit World, and built this mausoleum to prepare himself for it." said the Guide. "So he had himself buried next to the Terracotta Warriors, which you will see in a moment, and which many believe were the remains of his mighty army that Wen Tao transformed to end the war, and who were to serve him in the next life!"

"Actually, that's not quite true." interjected Aang.

"Excuse me? This from the boy who didn't know the First War Between The Nations!" joked the Guide.

"Hey! Aang's the Avatar, which means he was there! So I wouldn't question his knowledge!" defended Katara.

"Thanks, Katara." said Aang.

"No problem, Aang!" replied the water bender.

"He's the Avatar? That's odd. You don't look like a girl!" said the uninformed Guide, confusing Aang with Hay Lin.

"Heh." said Hay Lin, trying to hide her discomfort with a slight smile, as Aang looked at her and gave a disappointed sigh.

"So, Mr. Smarty Robe Avatar, what really happened?" challenged the Guide.

"Wen Tao didn't turn people into terracotta clay to end the War Between...I mean, the First War Between Nations! He used bending to end that war!" Aang informed all assembled. "Quo Jin was building a Spirit Army to invade the Spirit World, so the Spirits gave Wen the power to turn them into clay! Then everyone assumed they were funeral gifts, and Wen didn't bother to correct them, because he didn't want to worry anyone! Later, the Earth Spirits buried the tomb in an earthquake!"

"Invade the Spirit World with a Spirit Army? That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard!" scoffed the Guide.

"It's true!" declared Aang.

"But why would he do that, Aang? It makes no sense! There's no physical form in the Spirit World! What could he hope to accomplish?" asked Katara. "And how could he even think it was possible?

"Quo Jin was obsessed with stories about the Spirit World! He thought he could lead it like Xin Jing did!" answered Aang. "He was nuts!"

"Xin Jing??" said the shocked Taranee. "But you said the Avatar didn't know a Xin Jing!!"

"I didn't!" said Aang, in a firm and confident voice. "The stories about Xin Jing and the Spirit World are just bedtime stories! Nothing more!"

"Will, all this talk about Xin Jing has got me seriously freaking!!" said Taranee to her leader, out of earshot of the others in their party. "I wondered what the connection to our world was! This has got to be it!" said the upset Fire Guardian. On their world, Xin Jing created the Heart of Candracar. If she was involved in this world in a similar capacity...

"I know! This has my head doing backflips, too!" acknowledged Will. "But I don't see how it's important! We still have our mission!"

"I know, but..." replied Taranee.

"Let's focus on that, okay?" requested Will of her Guardian colleague.

"Okay. Sure. No problem." said the Guardian of Fire, acceding to her leader's wishes, but not willing to forget the issue.

Ushering the group into the excavated portion of the tomb, the Guide announced "Here they are: The Terracotta Warriors!"

As far as the eye could see, life-size statues of soldiers and men on ostrichhorseback.

Hundreds of them!

The detail on each one was exquisite!

No wonder many thought they once were real people!

The crowd ooohhed and aahhhed over them.

Although there was one who wasn't impressed.

"Well, well, look who we have here!" said the voice in the shadows.

Walking into the light, he revealed himself as...

"Zuko!!" yelled Will.

"I came here looking for my old sparring partners, and who do I find? The one I was after all along!" said the cool fire bending Prince.

Shocked beyond words, Aang could only stare at the banished Prince Zuko, who had been chasing him for months, and who had seemingly cornered him in an enclosed area.

_Next:_

_BIG FIGHT CHAPTER!_

_Zuko vs. The Guardians, Aang, Katara & Toph!_

_Our heroes are in for a rough time, as Zuko has learned a few new tricks._

_Then, things get even more intense when Zuko..._

_gets aid from an unexpected quarter!_

_Who helps him? You'll see!_

_It's the fight of their young lives!_

_How the heck will our heroes survive this one?_

_But first:_

_We backpedal slightly and find out what happened when Will and Taranee..._

_visited the gift shop!_

_It's better than it sounds! Really!_

_See, they met someone who will...Ah, just read it, already!_

Notes

Vacation, by the Go-Gos, is a song about trying to forget someone. Aang tries to forget his duties, but it's not that easy.

Katara said "They did save Avatar Town from the Fire Nation! Everyone says so." because the people of the Earth Kingdom equate Zuko's attack on Avatar Town as an attack by the Fire Nation, and even consider Azula's arena battle with the Guardians as Fire Nation hostility.

I know the whole 'underage drinking' thing seems inappropriate, but the Avatar TV show invited it when they had Sokka order a 'fruity beverage' with an umbrella on top in Episode 2-10. His request even sounded kind of illicit. Of course, they never say it's alcohol, and neither do I. It's another element to have fun with. And Toph certainly seems the type to relax with a (nonalcoholic) brew.

Earth Spirits were mentioned in Episode 1-11, the Great Divide. According to the guide, the 'grand canyon' was carved into the ground by earth spirits, angered at not receiving proper sacrifices from the local farmers.

The Wonder Spot is gone, but you can still find it on the web. And when it did exist, its 'gravity anomalies' didn't affect me. I could keep my balance. Unlike my brothers.

The Temple of Earth Spirits is based on ancient Greek temples, which would use a 'flying chariot' of Apollo to impress the faithful (among other things). The Greeks were very theatrical.

'Huang Shan' means 'Bright Hill'. Frank Lloyd Wright called his home and studio 'Taliesin', which means 'Shining Brow'. It was built on a hill, and the architecture integrated it into the landscape.

The Terracotta Army or Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of 8,099 life-size terracotta figures of warriors and horses located near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. The figures were discovered in 1974 near Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

The terracotta figures were buried with the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huangdi) in 210-209 BC. Their purpose was to help rule another empire with Shi Huangdi in the afterlife. Consequently, they are also sometimes referred to as "Qin's Armies". The palace/mausoleum, which measures some three miles across, took 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete.

Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China, not only unified China politically, but he also unified China economically by standardizing Chinese weights and measures, currency, cart axles (so every cart could run smoothly in the ruts of the new roads), legal system and Chinese script. He also undertook some gigantic projects, such as the first version of the Great Wall of China, a city-sized mausoleum guarded by a life-sized Terracotta army, and a massive national road system. However, he was also considered a tyrant by many, as untold lives were lost building his projects, people complained of his harsh laws, he banned (and burned) all books other than those he decreed and had a particular hatred for Confucianism, outlawing it and burying many of its scholars alive. He was also obsessed with death and desperately sought the fabled elixir of life, visiting Zhifu Island several times to this end. He even sent a Zhifu islander Xu Fu with ships carrying hundreds of young men and women in search of the Penglai Mountain, where the immortals lived. Obviously, he was quite a character, and many stories and movies based on him have been done.

Quo Jin, the first Earth King, is based on Qin Shi Huang. So, after uniting the Earth Kingdom, he built the first wall around Ba Sing Se, outlawed earth bending, threatened the other nations (but particularly the Fire Nation), obsessed about the Spirit World and therefore created the Terracotta Warriors to fight for him in the Spirit World.

The battle that united China was not near the Emperor's palace, but they're combined in my story.

Wisconsin Dells didn't unearth a Chinese Emperor's palace, but they did dig up the White House. An upside down White House. It's called Top Secret. I'm not kidding. See for yourself.

This was a tough chapter to write because the characters have to bond and learn to trust each other if they're going to succeed in their mission, but first they have to get over a lot of suspicion and disharmony. And so many characters! Each with their own storyline! Arghh! Plus, the groundwork has to be laid for future chapters. All while moving the plot along. I edited a lot out of previous chapters, but here I went a little nuts. If it sounded good, I put it in. On the upside, the extra time allowed me to come up with three new plot developments for later on. (Including two BIG developments. We're talking the secret of the Avatar's world/the connection with W.I.T.C.H. and the fate of one character). I probably won't have a chapter like this again. But then, I've said that before.

This chapter was all about the characters bonding, and what would a fanfic be without 'ships'? This episode had Hay Lin/Aang (HLAang?)(well, not really. Seems more like brother/sister to me), Hay Lin/Sokka, Cornelia/Sokka, Katara/Aang, Toph/Sokka and even Yue/Sokka (sort of. Corny was kind of Yue's proxy. Did you know you could marry by proxy? Without even being present? It's true!) Man, that Sokka kid gets around! But if anyone wants other 'ships', forget it! Things are strange enough! Do we really want, say, Irma/Toph? I don't think we'd survive the sarcasm overkill! Although if this was Season 3, the Earth King as a suitor would be good for a few laughs.

My subconscious tried to get in on the writing of this chapter. I dreamed of cops hauling in Aang or the Guardians for questioning. Why, I don't know. I haven't watched any crime dramas lately. But when I woke up, I couldn't figure out how to do it. Sorry, subconscious!


	40. Interlude 11: Will and Taranee

Interlude Eleven: Will and Taranee Visit the Gift Shop

"Whoa! Look at that!" said Will, as she and Taranee flew over the expansive, miles-long Tomb of Quo Jin.

"Finally! A place that isn't a tourist trap!" said Taranee, approvingly.

Upon landing, both girls tucked their wings under their robes. Not to hide them, per se, but to walk around without drawing too much attention to themselves. To better fit in.

Walking into the Tomb, they saw a number of items for sale, but no entrance.

Puzzled, they looked around and examined the merchandise.

"Looks like I spoke too soon." said Taranee Cook, holding up a robe that said 'I visited the Tomb of Quo Jin, and all I got was this lousy robe!'

There were other unusual items on display/for sale.

Artwork made entirely out of...

"Are those leechie nuts?" wondered Will.

Animal oddities...

"A skunk skunk?" said a confused Taranee, staring at what was obviously (to her) a common skunk, but which was almost nonexistent on this world.

...And a shrunken head!

"Ew!" they both recoiled.

"Hey! Look at this!" Taranee announced "A scroll about earth architect Wang Wong Wei! Katara would love this!"

Then, while Will eyed a bracelet with a mini terracotta soldier dangling from it...

"Like the bracelet? It's a top seller! It's got zap, or whatever you kids say these days!" said the man, who then treated Will and Taranee as if they were on display.

"Oh my! Look at this hair!" he said, running his fingers through Will's red locks.

"Hey!" exclaimed Will.

"And this skin!" he said, grabbing Taranee's bare arm with both hands and leaning in to get a better look at her dark complexion. "Fascinating!"

"Do you mind?" said the seriously miffed Guardian of Fire, jerking her arm back.

"Sorry. Professor Kei, Economic Anthropology, Ba Sing Se University, and curator of this site. I'm always on the lookout for the unusual." he said, by way of explanation.

" 'Economic' Anthropology?" questioned the cynical Taranee.

"Yes. I try to ensure that all our very important scientific work gets funded by finding new revenue streams. Hence, the gift shop. I'm just watching it temporarily for the shopkeep, who had to take his 'morning constitutional'." said Professor Kei.

"How…creative." commented Will Vandom.

"It's not glamorous, but it is necessary. Perhaps you've heard of my brother, Prof. Zei, who flits around from place to place finding lost civilizations! He gets the glory, while we do all the real science!" moaned the unsung researcher.

"You don't sound bitter at all." said the sarcastic Taranee.

"No, because we do important work here! Right now we're calculating how many Spirits it took to bury a structure of this size." said the proud Prof. Kei.

"Really. Sounds fascinating!" said the equally sarcastic Will.

"My brother is a good anthropologist." added Prof. Kei. "He even discovered the Terracotta Soldiers. But lately he's lost it! He spends his days now wandering around the desert trying to find a 'Spirit Library'! Have you ever heard anything so crazy?" he laughed.

"Ha Ha. Yeah. That's hilarious." said the barely smiling Taranee, who knew Wan Shi Tong's Spirit Library really did exist.

"Are you members of a lost tribe?" asked the ever-curious Prof. Kei.

"Yeah! Real lost!" admitted Taranee, who almost spilled the beans.

"Shh." said Will, while discreetly elbowing Taranee. "No, sir. We're just kids imitating the latest 'thing'! You know how silly kids are!" she said, smiling broadly. "We're looking for the entrance to the Tomb! We have to find the rest of our party!"

"Yeah, uh, big, big, party! They'll be wondering where we are!" added Taranee.

"I see." he said, eyeing the wings peeking out from under their robes. "The entrance to the Tomb is on the other side. Go around, and you can't miss it!"

"Thanks! Come on, T!" said Will to her friend. "Nice meeting you, sir!"

"But, Will, what about that scroll?" asked Taranee.

"Maybe later. I want to get out of here! That guy majorly creeps me out!" said Will to Taranee, out of earshot of the oddity-seeking Professor.

"Bye, girls! Have a nice visit!" Prof. Kei said, as Will and Taranee exited. "I'll make sure it's a long one, Guardians!" he announced, though no one was there to hear him.

Professor Kei kept up with the news from Ba Sing Se. To keep a position of status, one had to be well informed. So he knew who the Guardians were.

Better yet, he knew how he could profit off of them! And he knew who could help him.

He then scribbled something on a piece of paper and shoved it into an envelope.

"Shopkeep!" he yelled. "Your presence is required!"

"Sir?" said the humble shopkeep, hitching up his robe.

"Take this to the Army garrison at Ta Dang. It's very important!" barked Prof. Kei, shoving the envelope into the shopkeep's hands. "These are orders from Ba Sing Se!" he said, lying through his teeth.

"But Ta Dang?? That's…" said the befuddled shopkeep.

"Through the mountains? So? Get an earth bender to help you, then! But go! Quickly, now!" ordered Prof. Kei.

"Oohhh. Is this real earth crystal?" said Prof. Kei, referring to the rare and expensive green mineral used to light the homes of those on the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se. "I didn't know we sold this!" he said, as he tried the necklace on.

If his plan worked, he could get very used to earth crystal.

When his latest 'find', the Guardians, enable him to ascend to the Upper Ring, that is!

After the earth crystal necklace, Prof. Kei moved on to the earth crystal earrings.

But as he was trying them on...

"Uh, sir?" said the voice of the humble shopkeep.

"Yes? What is it??" said the extremely annoyed anthropologist.

"I forgot to leave the restroom key." replied the sheepish shopkeep.

"Then leave it, and go! In fact, take it with you! I don't care, as long as you get out of here and get to Ta Dang! Immediately!" said the mad as heck scientist.

"Sorry, sir! Going right now, sir!" said the shopkeep, hurrying out the door.

Prof. Kei sighed. Good help was _so _hard to find.

Luckily, his contact at the Army garrison will know the right people for the job.

_Next_: 

_The Big Fight!_

_Then things get really interesting,_

_as we flash forward to the future_

_and find out what would happen if Aang came to our world!_

Notes

Professor Kei is loosely based on Robert Ripley (Ripley's Believe It Or Not). There's a Ripley's museum in the Dells, too.

"Professor Zei, Cultural Anthropology, Ba Sing Se University." he said, introducing himself in Episode 2-10 to Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph. He claimed to have found many lost civilizations. He's described in Episode 2-14 by a student as an expert on desert cultures. Also, the University is in the Middle Ring.

Da Nang, Vietnam, was the site of a major American air base in the Vietnam War.


	41. Zuko vs the Guardians & the Avatar

Chapter 27: Zuko vs. the Guardians and the Avatar

In the excavated Tomb of Quo Jin, an old adversary revealed himself...

"Zuko!!" yelled Will.

"I came here looking for my old sparring partners, and who do I find? The one I was after all along!" said the cool, fire bending Prince.

"You led him right to me???" said the shocked, and upset, Aang.

"Hey! We didn't tell him we were here!" said Taranee, defending her compatriots.

"You didn't have to. This little baby did! It is a rather amazing piece of jewelry." said Zuko, presenting the Heart of Candracar hanging from his neck. "And you're going to show me even more of its wonders." he said, staring straight at the Energy Guardian.

"You're crazy if you think we'd ever do that!" yelled Will.

Katara, meanwhile, had motioned to the other people on the tour to leave the area - and quickly.

Her actions drew the attention of the Fire Nation Prince.

"Katara? Is that you?" wondered Prince Zuko, upon eyeing her gleaming silver outfit. "What are you wearing??"

"Why are we sitting here talking with the guy? Get him!!!" ordered Irma.

As one, Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka and the Guardians surged towards the banished Prince of the Fire Nation!

Those who had powers (everyone except Sokka) tried to use them on the wily fire bender, but the small space worked against them.

Prince Zuko, for his part, merely waved his hand and formed an energy shield in front of him that blocked the multi-elemental attack.

Then, with another wave, the shield grew and grew! Zuko then moved the huge shield in a semi-circle in front of him and cleared the deck of all of his attackers!

"Oof!"

"Ugh!"

They groaned.

Before they could re-group, Zuko grabbed Will and most of the others and held them in an energy vise!

"Let..go!" Will demanded.

"Uh uh! Not till you tell me what this can do!" declared Prince Zuko.

"Never!" cried Will.

While his attention was on Will, Irma snuck up on the maniacal energy wielder from behind.

Before she could sink her claws into him, though...

"No. You don't get to touch me. Ever!" commanded Prince Zuko, who drove an energy ram at Irma with such force she crashed into the wall!

"Irma!" screamed the other Guardians.

"This ends...now!" declared Will Vandom. "Quintessence!"

With that, the solidified energy that held Will and the others dissolved.

"Will! No!" exclaimed Taranee.

"What?" said Will.

"So that's how you do it?" smirked Zuko. "I'll have to remember that!" he said, forming a shield that constantly moved and shifted in front of him, dissolving and solidifying at equal rates so Will couldn't affect it.

Thus protected, the hovering Zuko assumed a standard Xsing Yi fire bending stance and struck from the 'Seven Stars': hands, feet, knees, elbows, hips, shoulders and head.

He fired off energy blasts in such rapid-fire succession that none of his opponents could even land a single blow!

"He's killing us, T!" said Will to Taranee, using a life-size Terracotta Warrior for cover.

"Even worse, I think he's toying with us!" replied Taranee Cook, hiding behind another Terracotta Warrior on horseback. "I can't even affect his flame anymore!"

"He's combined his fire with the energy of the Heart somehow!" observed Will Vandom. "So I can barely hurt him, either!"

"We need to change tactics!" said the quick-thinking Guardian of Fire.

"We have to get out of here! We'll have the advantage in the open air!" replied Will.

"I have an idea!" said Taranee.

_Cornelia! _thought-exclaimed the telepathic Taranee. _We need you to raise the roof!_

_What? _thought-replied the telekinetic Earth Guardian, while using patches of the dirt floor to protect her from Zuko's attack. _I don't know if I'm powerful enough to do that!_

_Try, okay? _thought-requested the Fire Guardian. _We'll get Hay Lin to help you!_

So while Cornelia struggled to move the ancient roof of the First Earth King's Tomb, Hay Lin (and Aang) created a whirlwind that blew the wobbly top off the Tomb with a _WHOOSH!_

It then fell to the ground outside with a _CRASH!_

Taking to the air, Will, Taranee, Hay Lin and Aang then dodged and weaved around Zuko's fiery strikes while bombarding him with their own blasts of energy, fire and air.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Cornelia, Katara, Toph, Sokka and a recovered Irma tried to pummel Zuko with water, earth, and boomerang.

To little effect.

"Can you believe this guy? He's unstoppable!" said Cornelia Hale. "I'm starting to realize why the Oracle always gives the Heart to a girl! Boys are way too dangerous!"

"Gee, ya think?" said the sarcastic Irma Lair.

Thinking on the fly, Will had a flash of insight.

_Guys! _she thought, jacking into Taranee's telepathic link. _Zuko knows how each of us fight! We have to show him something new!_

_Oh! I know! Tag team! _thought Irma.

_Go for it! _thought Will.

Utilizing their skill at 'Air Tag', Hay Lin went invisible and flew towards Zuko!

While Hay Lin distracted the Prince, who could sense her presence, Aang sent an air ball at Zuko that took him offguard and scored a direct hit!

Since Aang could 'feel' the air currents, he knew where Hay Lin was at all times, so his attack didn't jeopardize her.

Trading off, the quick-moving Aang and the unseen Hay Lin flew around Zuko and took turns landing tornadic blows!

He had no defense against them!

But he didn't go down! It would take more than that!

"Irma! Katara! Your turn! Go!" ordered Will. "Drown him!"

"But I only have the small amount of water in my waterskin!" said the crestfallen Katara.

"Need water? Leave that to me!" said the confident Irma, who could condense water out of even the smallest amount of vapor in the air. "Now I'll push..." said the Water Guardian.

"..And I'll pull! Got it!" said the Water Tribe girl.

Working together, they created massive waves on both sides of Zuko that crashed into him and washed Zuko into the muddy fields outside!

"We have to seize the advantage and put him down! Hard!" barked the Energy Guardian.

"I know just what to do! What he'll never expect!" answered Corny. "Toph, armor up!"

"What?" said the befuddled earth bender.

"Cover yourself in rock!" demanded Cornelia, who saw Toph do that while they were training.

"Okay." said Toph, complying with the Earth Guardian by growing a second skin of stone. "But I don't see what this will do! He'll see me coming from a mile off!"

"Not if you come at him from a different angle!" said Cornelia, levitating the formerly earth-bound bender.

"Ah! No!!" cried Toph, who despised flying. "I hate you!" Toph yelled, as Cornelia turned the rock-encased girl into a guided missile.

"I love you, too, Toph!" said the quite serious Guardian of Earth, who knew her stunt couldn't hurt the earth bending girl.

Zuko, though...

As he picked himself out of the mud, he heard a whine in the air behind him.

Turning around, the Prince saw a huge rock coming right at him!

"Oh, Spir-" was all he could utter, before the human/rock hybrid projectile smacked him square in his solar plexus!

And down Zuko went, digging a trench into the soil and plowing into the wall of the Tomb!

"Yeah!"

"Alright!"

Celebrated the Guardians, Aang, Katara, Sokka...and even Toph, when she got back on her feet, after giving a dirty look to Cornelia.

Then the indefatigable Prince Zuko got up.

"Uh oh." said Irma, voicing the dread they all felt.

Then Appa flew down and used the force of his mammoth, furry body to send the Prince tumbling back into the Tomb!

"Enough!" said the furious Zuko, who scrambled to his feet in the half-ruined Tomb and declared to his circling opponents "What is this, 10 against 1?"

"10 against 1?" wondered Sokka, counting everyone in the combined group. "Are you including Appa?"

"How unfair!" continued Prince Zuko. "How about if I even the odds?" said the smug fire bender, eyeing the Terracotta Warriors.

Holding the Heart in his hand, he felt its energy pulse as he said "What was that word? Oh yes! Quintessence!"

The energy flowed out of the Heart and bathed the Terracotta clay figures in its pink brilliance.

Then...

...They came to life!

"Attack!" ordered the royal son of the Fire Lord.

Aang, Katara, Toph and Sokka could only stare in dumbfounded disbelief at the sight of hundreds of Terracotta Warriors advancing on them, clay weapons at the ready.

"Will, I know our only advantage over him is that he doesn't understand the kind of power he wields, but I think he's learning!" said the anxious Fire Guardian, as she baked several of the animated earth vessels.

"Y, your power can do that?" said the stunned air bender, as he used his air powers to dodge a dozen clay warriors while summoning wind, water and earth to eliminate another dozen. "What kind of world do you live in that you need that kind of power? All the time?"

"Obviously, you've never met Phobos!" joked Irma, as she washed away a phalanx of clay soldiers. "Trust me, you don't want to know!"

"Aang, we need the Avatar state!" yelled Sokka.

"No!!" denied Aang. "I can't control it! It could make things even worse!"

"Can't imagine much worse than this!" said Sokka, trying to fight off huge clay warriors with only a boomerang.

Will tried to use her 'Quintessence' command to shut down the hulking clay figures, but for every one she deactivated, Zuko summoned ten, even a hundred, more!

And he had thousands of Warriors at his beck and call!

The Guardians and the benders were threatened with being overwhelmed!

The massed Warriors were even proving too much for the mighty Toph, greatest earth bender ever, to handle!

Her earthen towers sent dozens flying, and her soil barricades kept scores back, but they were so numerous they clambered over her walls and kept on coming!

"There's too many, Snoozles!" roared Toph, using her pet name for Sokka.

Desperate, Irma formulated a plan!

But Katara wouldn't hear of it!

"Are you crazy?" Katara said to Irma.

"Probably." Irma replied. "If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it! Now, if we had a distraction, so we could get close enough to Zuko..." she added, as she couldn't even see Zuko with all of the hundreds of Terracotta Warriors between him and them.

"You need a distraction? Coming up!" said Will, flying above the clay warriors. "Zuko? You want to learn how to use the Heart?" she declared.

"Will? What are you doing?? questioned the fearful Fire Guardian.

"Don't worry! I've got a plan!" she said to her girls. "Zuko! Show yourself! I'm tired of this insane fight and I want it to end! So I'll make you a deal!"

"Wise choice." said Zuko, hovering above a squad of Terracotta Warriors on horseback. "But if this is a trick, I will show no mercy!"

"I'm not stupid! Let all of us go, _including Aang_, and I'll show you things about the Heart so amazing you won't need anyone anymore!"

"What the heck is she doing???" yelled Irma. "Is Will insane? We can't give him more power!"

"Will's giving you your distraction! So use it!" said a terse Taranee.

"Okay, Katara, it's now or never!" said Irma, with a heavy heart.

"But…" said the worried water bender.

"Just do it, before I change my mind!" demanded Irma Lair.

Meanwhile, Will squirmed in Zuko's energy grasp.

Her plan was to access the power of the Seal of Phobos contained within the Heart.

And, if possible, separate it from the Heart so it would be unable to create portals, or tele-transport.

Plus, if they were lucky, the Guardians could then grab the separated Seal of Phobos and use it to get away!

Luck (and fate), however, had its own ideas...

"What are you doing?" barked Zuko. "I said, no tricks!"

His anger caused energy spikes to flare from the Heart and strike Will.

But some missed their mark, and zoomed up into the atmosphere!

Where they struck a wandering hot air balloon.

As the balloon plummeted to the ground, its lone passenger looked below and thought he saw someone he knew.

"Zuko?" said the terrified Shen Ming, maybe 40 feet above the ground.

Zuko and the others looked up as it flew overhead.

"Shen??" said the mystified fire bender.

It was his friend! He knew it! But how?

Zuko froze at the realization of what was occurring.

It all happened so fast, no one could do anything to stop it!

Shen crashed moments later.

"No!!" Zuko yelled.

As Hay Lin and some of the others went to the crash site, Taranee seized the opportunity.

"You wanted a distraction! Now go!" she ordered.

Immediately, Zuko was attacked by an ice-covered water bender.

"What?" said the puzzled Prince Zuko. "You think this will stop me, Katara?" he said, instinctively summoning the flame within him to deflect her watery assault and burn the icy outer casing from her body, revealing her metallic silver robe.

"G, guess again?" said the shivering, half-frozen Irma Lair, as she jumped on Zuko and dug her partially icy fingers into his neck. Irma had used her clothes color-changing power on herself so her robe matched Katara's.

"You?? No!!" screamed the snared Prince.

Irma was the only one Zuko feared, since she could create water within his body and snuff out the flame burning in his soul.

But Zuko couldn't lose! He just couldn't!

As the exiled Prince struggled with his attacker, Will tried to control the power of the Heart that opened portals to other worlds.

Desperate, in fear and pain and grief, suffering as he hadn't in years, ever since he lost his mother and then was defeated by his father in an Agni Kai, leading to his banishment from home, Zuko reached out to the Heart he alone possessed, and the world went white.

_Next:_

_We flash forward to the future!_

_The war is over. Phobos is defeated._

_And the world is a very different place._

_The Guardians are back in school, but they've got company:_

_Aang , Katara, Sokka and Toph are their classmates!_

_(Zuko, Iroh, Ozai & Azula are there, too!)_

_Plus, nearly everyone can bend!_

_Which leaves the Guardians with not much to do._

_(Although they've got plenty of their own problems to deal with!)_

_What is the secret behind this brave, new world that tears W.I.T.C.H. apart?_

_(As an added bonus, other fanfics' elemental groups are mentioned.)_

_As the most amazing crossover in fanfiction history continues!_

_But first:_

_Azula meets with her father, the Fire Lord!_

Notes

"Katara? Is that you?" wondered Prince Zuko, upon eyeing her gleaming silver outfit. "What are you wearing??"

- This is all the Zutara you're going to get. Sorry.

Zuko in this chapter kind of reminds me of Sylar. Very villainous. But there's a reason for it. Beyond the fact that he would of course want to learn how to use these strange new powers better, that is.

It's commonly known Will can bring electrical devices to life. What's less known is her power can bring anything to life. In I is for Illusion, Nerissa (who has the same powers as Will), brought a wooden lifeguard shack to life. Will did the Nerissa 'Quintessence' bit for the first time in K is for Knowledge, on chairs and drapes.

If anyone thinks I animated the Terracotta Warriors just for the sake of a fight scene, you got another think coming!

This is probably the last 'fight of the elementals'. Future conflicts will be done a little differently. No more all-out battles or one elemental vs. their opposite. Future battles will be quicker, and may not go as you expect them to.


	42. Interlude 12: Azula and Ozai

Interlude Twelve: Azula and Ozai

When Princess Azula returned home to the Palace of the Fire Nation, her father surprised her by seeing her, not in the throne room, but in a small Fire Chapel off to the side of the Palace.

As she entered the Chapel, she was startled to see the Fire Lord kneeling in front of a pair of lighted candles.

_What was he doing? _she thought. _Showing weakness? No! It can't be!_

As she approached the prostrate figure of her sire, he got to his feet and motioned to the attending Fire Monks in the room to leave.

"Well, daughter…" he intoned. "What news do you bring me?"

"Before we discuss that, may I ask...?" Azula inquired.

"Why are we meeting here? It is a fair question." Fire Lord Ozai said, in a voice that did little to calm his daughter's nerves. "I come here every day and light a candle, in memory of those we have lost."

He motioned to the candles burning on the pedestal.

There were two.

Squinting her eyes, Princess Azula saw there was writing on them.

One had her grandfather's name - Fire Lord Azulon.

And the other bore the name of her mother - Ursa!

Not only that, but Azula clearly saw, on the shelf behind, two more candles.

And on those were written the names of her brother and uncle!

Obviously he was ready, at a moments' notice, to add those to the pedestal.

"Do I need to add another?" said the ominous Fire Lord, at once less a father than a force of nature.

The Princess of the Fire Nation knew she had to be careful.

Words could entrap oneself as easily as a metal snare.

"Father…" she began. "I would never deign to dishonor you or our nation by using that foul word, 'forgiveness'. My failure to secure the Avatar is unforgivable! But I come with news that may make such matters moot."

"Really?" he asked, displaying a rare sincerity.

"Yes. I encountered an unusual group of benders known as the 'Guardians'." replied Azula.

"I already know of the Guardians!" scoffed Fire Lord Ozai. "Prince Phobos has assured me they will be dealt with, and pose no threat to our plans!"

"Then you have been misinformed, Your Highness." said the Princess. "The Guardians represent not a threat, but an opportunity."

"Go on…" bade the Fire Lord.

"For hundreds of years, the Avatar has been the bane of our existence!" railed the angry scion of the Fire Lord. "Even when the Avatar came from our ranks, the traitorous one did not support our Nation! Not only that, but the Avatar has consistently opposed our efforts to bring order to this world!"

"I am in no need of a history lesson, daughter." said the curt ruler of the Fire Nation.

"Yes, father, but what if it didn't matter what the Avatar did? What if we supplanted him with elementals of our own design?" crowed Princess Azula. "Because that is what the Guardians represent: Unparalleled power, without restriction! Power anyone can obtain! Do you know what we can do with power such as this? We could…"

And here she paused for effect, a smile snaking its way across her features.

"...create a new elemental order!" said Azula, her eyes glowing with evil intent.

There was silence, then, in the Fire Chapel.

Finally, Fire Lord Ozai spoke.

"…Yes…" he hissed, as the flames of the candles leapt ever higher.

_Next:_

_Will, Cornelia, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee,_

_Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, _

_Zuko, Iroh, Ozai, Azula,_

_Caleb, Martin, Alchemy, Mrs. Knickerbocker,_

_talking appliances, Napoleon the cat, Uriah,_

_and (mentions of) Elyon, Lillian, Matt, and Vance Michael Justin._

_(But no Blunk. Not yet, anyway. Wait for it!)_

_And more!_

_As the action moves to Heatherfield for the middle part of Act III._


	43. Aang in Heatherfield, Part 1

**Author's Note: This is my longest chapter yet (and my best!)**

**The next chapter will be the conclusion of this part of the story,**

**but there's plenty more to come after that!**

Chapter 28: Aang & The Guardians in Heatherfield, Part 1

The Future Ain't What It Used To Be

7:00 AM, Friday, September 21 (29 hours and 30 minutes before the Autumnal Equinox), Will Vandom's bedroom 

**BRING**

Went young Will's alarm clock.

She hit the alarm to turn it off, yawned, stretched her arms and crawled out of bed, careful not to disturb the slumber of her stuffed frogs.

Absentmindedly, Will turned on the television.

The news was on.

_...Fire Lord Ozai arrived early for the upcoming diplomatic conference so he could spend some time with his daughter, who attends our town's very exclusive Royalton Academy._

_The Queen of Meridian announced that she will attend the conference as well._

_In other news, nearly all of Heatherfield turned out to see Avatar Aang, who's in town for a benefit concert. Aang has been on a tour of our country, after..._

"What?" said Will, the mention of Aang snapping her out of her morning routine. "Why is Aang here?" she mumbled.

Turning the volume up, Will listened in.

_...Did you see his appearance on Harry Queen? _asked one morning news host.

_We have tape! _said the other morning newsman.

…_I'm sure all of you remember the momentous events that occurred a few short months ago, when the world woke up to millions more citizens and land, and new, mysterious, elemental powers. I think we were all a bit shaken at first, but we adjusted. Although I don't think I'll ever get used to wolfbats. Or canyon crawlers! I still have nightmares about that one! Joining us today is Avatar Aang, who was at the center of all the changes in our world. Welcome, Aang. _

_Thank you, Harry! I'm happy to be here! What are those things on your chest?_

_They're called suspenders. They...ow! _said Harry, after the curious Aang pulled on the suspenders, then let them snap back into place.

_Sorry! _cried the apologetic young Avatar. _ Momo! Get off the nice gentleman's head! Oh no! He scalped you! _said the mortified Aang, as the flying lemur took off with Harry's toupee.

_Ha Ha! That kid slays me! _said the news anchor. _Moving on, we…_

"Huh? What the heck is going on?" said Will, reaching out to the TV. "The energy doesn't feel right."

"But I feel fine, Will!" said Billy the TV.

"It's not you, Billy!" replied Will. "Although this is one day I'm glad you wouldn't allow me to see cartoons!"

"Only educational television for you, young lady!" said the strict television.

"Ah, all the best cartoons are on digital cable, anyway, which we don't have!" complained Will Vandom. "But it's like there's something in the air."

"Will, my sensors indicate the temperature is a very comfortable 68 degrees, with moderate humidity." said Barry the electronic thermostat.

"It's not the weather, Barry. Something's wrong." said the Energy Guardian, as she stared at tape of Aang's press conference.

6:41 PM, Thursday, September 20, Aang's Press Conference next to the Heatherfield Amusement Park

Aang, in his simple monk's robes, answered reporter's questions.

He is flanked by his two aides - Katara, in a business suit, and Sokka, in a dark suit, dark glasses and an earphone.

_Avatar Aang, how do you like Heatherfield so far?_

_It's great! My biggest problem is deciding what to eat! I've never seen so much food! _answered Aang. _And that was a, what did they call it? _said Aang, looking to his trusted associate.

_Convenience store. _added Katara.

_Avatar Aang, you're the protector of nature. So when's the best time to plant the seeds for your garden?_

_Um, when they're healthy?_

_Dalai Avatar Aang, what do you say to reports that China found another Avatar, the Panchen Avatar?_

_It's unfortunate that politics are injected into such a serious matter. _said the visibly irked Aang.

_Avatar Aang, is your mission an exercise in futility? After you, the next Avatar will come from the Water Tribe, then the Earth Kingdom, followed by the Fire Nation. But with no more Air Nomads, the Avatar line will end there._

_Er, you see, about that..._ said the fumbling Avatar.

_Aang believes nature will find a way. That's why we're restoring the Air Temples. _said his aide, Katara.

_Avatar Aang, is there a special girl in your life?_

_Uh, well, umm..._

_Is he blushing? Tell me you got that!_

_That's enough questions for today. _said Katara, taking over the microphone from Aang. _I'd like to remind everybody to come to the Avatar's Concert For The Air Nomad Temples this Saturday. Thank you!_

9:20 PM, September 20, Aang's rental home in Heatherfield

"Thanks for everything, Katara! I don't know what I'd do without you!" said the grateful Aang.

"You're welcome, Aang!" replied the Water Tribe girl. "Although it'd be nice if I had a little help from our head of security, Sokka!" she said, staring directly at her brother. "You're supposed to shield Aang from any threats!" said the overprotective Katara.

"Including nosy reporters? I was keeping an eye out for any real, physical threats!" defended Sokka, without even bothering to look at his sister. His attention remained fixated on the object in his lap.

"When you weren't eyeing those girls in the crowd!" complained Katara. "And quit playing those silly video games! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"I need these to develop hand-eye dexterity, Katara! It's very important for a warrior!" said the Water Tribesman.

"Warrior...The war is over, Sokka! We have a new mission now. To help Aang restore his culture!" explained Katara.

"I know! I'm all over it! More than you! 'Nature will find a way.' Isn't that a line from that monster movie we saw the other day? Aw, not again! He got me!" said Sokka, continuing his game.

"About our mission, Katara. Was that guy right? Is it hopeless?" asked the worried air bender, last of his line.

"Of course not, Aang!" consoled the sweet-talking Katara. "We'll restore the Air Temples, and everything will be okay! You'll see!"

"But with no more Air Nomads..." suggested the world's only Air Monk.

"This world has something called 'genes'. They're a smart people. They'll figure it out." rationalized Katara, who had made some contacts in the scientific community. "Aang, I think we're all tired. Let's get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow. Since we'll be here for awhile, I've enrolled us all in school!"

"What??" said the surprised Aang.

"What???" said the even more surprised Sokka, finally taking his eyes off his game and looking up at Katara.

"I kind of like the idea of staying in one place for a while!" piped up Toph, digging her hand into a bag of crackers while Momo poached some for himself. "All that traveling from place to place is tiring!"

"The Earth girl wants to settle down. What a surprise!" teased Sokka.

"Hey, it'll be good to go to school! This world is a weird place. We need to learn all we can!" stated Toph.

"Thanks for the support, Toph!" said a smiling Katara.

"I wasn't trying to support you. It just makes sense, that's all!" explained the earth bender, much to Katara's consternation.

"Well, thanks, anyway!" said Katara, trying (and failing) to keep her composure.

"Katara..." began Aang.

"Yes, Aang?" inquired the sensitive Katara, recovering her sweet disposition.

"I...Thanks again. See you tomorrow." said Aang, who couldn't admit his love for his longtime companion.

"Sure! See ya!" said the happy water bender, waving Aang off to bed.

"Hey! How come I didn't get to be on the press thingy?" asked Toph, munching noisily on crackers, which made a mess on the couch.

"We've been over this, Toph." replied the diplomatic Katara, who couldn't admit Toph was not 'TV friendly'. "Your...skills are better utilized behind the scenes. Toph, you know we couldn't do this without you! You're a very valued member of the team!"

"Yeah, you're what they call a 'roadie'!" joked Sokka. "Like that hidden Osborne!"

"Sokka!" Katara chastised her brother.

"That's okay. I don't mind being the unknown part of 'Team Avatar'. It actually suits me." said Toph.

"So why did you..." wondered the Water Tribe girl.

"To give you a hard time! Why else?" said Toph, taking a swig of cola, while Katara seethed at Toph's antics. "Buurrrp! 'Scuse me. You know, what surprises me is all these people coming out to hear Aang speak." said the blind girl.

"Aang has an important message. That's why people come to see him." said Katara.

"More like they want to see him perform." said Sokka, with just a touch of irritation. "Like a trained seal!"

"Sokka!" cried his sister (again).

"What?? You know it's true!" said the peeved Water Tribe teenager.

"No, it's not. The people here are naturally curious. Aang is the last air bender, after all!" said Katara, stating her case.

"Are you sure he's the last one? Because there's, you know, that other one." teased Sokka.

"No, there isn't, Sokka! Aang's the last air bender, and you know it!" said the angry water bender.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it!" said Sokka, surprised at the venom in Katara's voice.

"I know. Sorry to almost bite your head off." said the contrite Water Tribe girl. "It's just that...I'm doing everything I can to help Aang, and Aang's doing everything he can, everything I _ask him_ to do even though he knows how some people view him, but I don't know if it'll be enough! The more I learn about this 'genetic' thing, the more I realize how hard it's going to be to restore the Air Nomads. But we have to try!"

Sokka, up to this point, had never grasped the full extent of his sister's feeling for Aang.

Now, he did.

Katara loved Aang. Truly and deeply.

Not a 'friend' love or even a motherly love, but capital letter L-O-V-E love.

The _real thing_!

"Whatever you decide to do, Katara, you know I'll back you!" said Sokka, in a firm yet warm voice.

"Thank you, Sokka!" said Katara, giving her brother a hug. "That means a lot to me!"

"Well, I'm off to bed! See you tomorrow!" said Katara, exiting the living room.

"You guys are a real piece of work, you know that?" said the sarcastic Toph to Sokka, who didn't respond. "Do we have more of these 'Fiddle Faddle' things?" she said, shaking the empty box.

"Uh, Toph..." said Sokka, looking to see that no one else was around. "Got any more of that chocolate stuff?"

"No. But one of the volunteers gave me this." Toph responded, handing Sokka a bag.

"Flavored air??" Sokka said, puzzled at the very existence of the product. Then he sampled it. "Mmm! Minty!"

8:10 AM, Friday, September 21, Cornelia's condo

"Corny, something's wrong." said Will, outside Cornelia's bedroom door.

"You're telling me?" replied the voice from the locked bedroom.

"Corny…Cornelia. We've been over this." replied Will, tenderly. "You know there was no other way. Phobos..."

"Was threatening to destroy two worlds! Yes, I know that!" said the angry Earth Guardian. "There should have been another way, Will!" she added, in evident pain.

"But there wasn't! Their world needed a Heart, and, and Lillian, she, it was the only way to save both worlds!" said Will, unsure whether she even believed what she was saying. "But she's okay. Lillian's protected now. She's too important to both sides. They won't let anything happen to her." said Will, speaking from the heart.

"I know, but…" said Cornelia Hale, sadness dripping from every word.

"I miss her, too." empathized Will, who then saw another resident of the Hale household. "Hiya, Napoleon." she said, picking up the now normal cat.

"Meow." meowed Napoleon, who looked at Will with a longing in his eyes.

Putting down the cat, Will said to her friend, through the door, "But, Cornelia, something's…"

"Leave, Will. Just go." said the frosty Cornelia.

"Sure. If you want." said the bummed Will Vandom, who then had an idea to lift Cornelia's spirits. "Hey, did you know Elyon's coming to town? For the diplomatic conference? That means you know who will be here, too!"

But Cornelia didn't answer.

"Yeah. Okay. Later. See you at school." said Will, resigned to making the trek to Sheffield Institute alone.

8:24 AM, Outside Sheffield Institute

As Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph walked to school, a black limousine with diplomatic plates cruised nearby.

As it passed them, the back seat window unfurled and a familiar voice rang out.

"Public school eh? Peasants!" it evilly jeered.

"Katara!" yelled Aang. "Do you know who that was??"

"Azula. I heard she went to some snooty private school around here, but I didn't know it was so close." replied the girl of the Water Tribe.

"And I think that grinning goof in the back seat with her was Ozai!" added the angry Water Tribe warrior, Sokka.

"We've got to do something!" cried the Avatar.

"Like what, Aang? Start a grudge fight on the grounds of the school we want to attend?" said the always sensible Katara. "The war's over. Ozai lost! He can't hurt us anymore, Aang! He's just trying to upset you!"

"I guess you're right." said the cooled down Air Nomad. "Let's get to class." he said, as they entered the school.

Not too far away, on the other side of Sheffield Institute, Martin Tubbs was having a typical day.

Typical for him, anyway!

"Hey, you guys! Cut it out!" yelled Martin, as bullies Uriah (water bender), Kurt (earth bender) and Laurent (fire bender) bent their elements in nasty ways, burying Martin in mud, then baking the mud into a hardened suit of dirt.

"Why don't you use your bending ability to stop us?" dared Uriah.

"Oh, that's right! You can't bend!" jeered Kurt.

"Watch out, guys! I think Martin will bend some books our way!" snickered Laurent.

"Ha ha ha!" they all laughed.

Spying her friend under attack, Irma Lair sped towards him to stop the harassment.

"I can't believe that jerk Uriah is the same element as me!" Irma said, to herself.

But before she could reach the bullies and Martin...

"Why don't you leave him alone?" said a scar-free Prince Zuko, another recent enrollee of the school.

"Why don't you make us!" challenged Uriah.

"Uriah, cool it! This kid's a killer fire bender! He's won tons of fire fights!" said Laurent.

"I don't need fire bending to take care of you three." stated the cool, yet fiery, Prince.

"Oh yeah?" said the insult-maddened Uriah. "Get him!!"

What happened next took but moments.

Uriah attacked with a powerful water spout from the nearby fire hydrant.

But Zuko wheeled around, causing Uriah to re-direct his waterfall.

Then Zuko ducked, causing Uriah's water cannon to strike Laurent as he prepared to launch a bolt of fire, extinguishing it.

Then Zuko spun his foot in a semi-circle, taking out Uriah and Kurt at the knees.

Kurt, no longer attached to the earth, lost control of his rock and it fell to the ground.

Before it could hit the ground, however, Zuko chopped it in two and sent the separate pieces flying into the chests of Uriah and Kurt, leaving them gasping for breath.

Then he placed a foot upon Laurent's windpipe, causing him to choke and eliminating his fire, because fire benders generated flame with their breathing.

"Had enough?" stated Zuko very matter-of-factly, showing as little emotion as possible.

"Hey! No fair!" cried Uriah, lying on the ground and wondering what had happened to him.

"Martin! Are you alright?" said Irma, upon rushing to the side of her friend.

"I'm fine, my goddess! At least, I am now!" said the cheerful Martin.

"Well, your attitude checks out, so you must be okay!" sighed Irma, who always acted as if she didn't like Martin's praise of her.

Then, turning to Martin's savior, Irma said "Thanks, Zuko. I know you didn't have to do that and..."

"Yeah. Whatever." said Zuko, dismissively. Zuko regarded Irma the same way a human regarded an ant, or an ant regarded a human: As if the other didn't exist.

"Hey! I'm trying to be nice here!" said the ticked off Irma. "The least you could do is say 'You're welcome'!"

Then Zuko's friend, Shen, joined Zuko and they walked towards the upper classes entrance of the school (as Zuko was a couple of years older, his classes were in a different wing than Aang or the Guardians).

Irma then turned toward Martin and said "Come on Martin. Let's get you cleaned up!"

Alchemy joined them and asked Irma "What is it with you and Zuko, anyway? It's like there's something going on between you two!" said the perceptive schoolgirl.

"Trust me, there is nothing 'going on' between us!" stated Irma, flatly.

"But you like him?" inquired the gossipy Alchemy. "I can see why! Tall. Dark. And a banished Prince of a far-off land! It's so romantic!" added the swooning schoolgirl, who'd obviously read too many romance novels

"Please!" scoffed Irma. "It's the farthest thing from 'like'! Zuko's bad news! Plastic surgeons may have fixed his face, but they couldn't do anything about his messed-up head! Did you know after he lost his mother, his father beat him up and threw him out?"

"Really?" replied Alchemy. "So it's love?"

"Ha ha." said the droll Irma Lair.

After seemingly laying to rest any rumors about her and Zuko, Irma walked with her friends to their school's entrance.

But she couldn't resist one last look at the deposed Prince.

And he, for some reason, felt the same way towards her, and turned his head in her direction.

They stared at each other with rough-hewn eyeballs, frowns seemingly etched in stone, for a only a split-second, then each went back to what they were doing.

Uriah, Kurt and Laurent, meanwhile, struggled to recover from their defeat.

Just then, Principal Knickerbocker found them writhing in pain on the school lawn.

"What's this? Bending again on school grounds?" interrogated Mrs. Knickerbocker.

"It wasn't us, Principal Knickerbocker! It was that Zuko guy!" whined Uriah.

"A likely story! He's nowhere in sight! Now march, youngsters! Into the school. Now." she ordered.

" 'A likely story' " imitated Uriah, in a nasally voice. "I'll march you!" he said, under his breath.

"Uriah, don't!" warned Kurt. "I heard Mrs. K can bend electricity out her eyeballs!"

"You don't really believe that crazy story, do you?" said Uriah.

"Do _you_ want to test that theory?" replied Kurt.

Then Uriah looked in Mrs. Knickerbocker's eyes.

Sparks flew in her optical orbs.

"Ulp! Ah, that's okay." said the chastened Uriah.

The three then marched into school.

8:50 AM, in the hallway of Sheffield Institute after Home Room

While Will searched her locker for her school books, Aang and Katara walked the halls.

When Aang passed Will, he uttered "The Four-In-One."

"What?" said a confused Will. "Excuse me? What did you call me?"

"Sorry. We're new here. I'm Katara. This is…" said the water bender.

"I know. Avatar Aang. I saw the TV report." replied Will Vandom, sarcastically. "What was that he called me?"

"Aang? Did you say anything to her?" asked Katara.

"No." said the innocent Avatar.

"You must be mistaken, uh..." said Katara, searching for the redhead's name.

"Will." said the Energy Guardian.

"Nice meeting you, Will!" said the cheery Water Tribe girl. "Come on, Aang, we have to get to class!"

_What the heck is going on?_ thought a mystified Will. _They act like they don't remember me! And what's with Aang?_

9:47 AM, Aang in Art class

Aang enjoyed art class.

He didn't usually take time out to doodle.

Most times, he was either practicing his bending or 'on tour', spreading the Air Nomad message.

As his finger, covered in paint, traced an image on the paper, his mind wandered.

Then he looked down and saw what he was painting...

...a portrait of Katara!

Embarrassed, the young Avatar's arm shot up and hit the paint bottles, knocking them over, splattering the art table, Aang's robe, and the floor with multi-colored acrylic.

"Oops!" exclaimed Aang.

"Eh?" said the art teacher. "If you spilled anything, we have turpentine..."

"No, I got it!" said the Avatar. "I clean up easy!"

Using his mighty air bending powers, Aang cleared all of the paint off the table, the floor and his robe.

"See? I told y-" began Aang.

And blew the paint right onto his teacher, who was covered in the colorful oils.

"-ou. Oh. Sorry." added Aang, meekly.

"The Principal's Office. Now, young man!" ordered the educator.

Shuffling off to the school disciplinarian, Aang joined another awaiting his fate.

Uriah!

"So, what did they get you on?" asked Uriah.

"Bending in school." answered Aang. "Air bending."

"Air bending??" said the incredulous Uriah. "What a lame excuse! Knickerbocker will never buy that story! Everyone knows there's only one air bender left!" said the uninformed ruffian, who didn't realize he was sitting next to the last air bender.

"Well, yeah, because I'm..." started Aang.

"Want some advice? Blame it on badgermoles!" said Uriah. "That actually worked once! Well, not for me. I heard that from someone!"

"Sigh!" sighed Aang.

10:05 AM, Sheffield Institute's hallway between classes

"Tara?" called out Will Vandom to the young girl bent over at her locker. "Taranee!"

"What's up, Will?" replied the dark-haired girl to her red-headed friend.

"Something weird is going on! Aang doesn't remember me!" said the concerned Will.

"He doesn't remember you? You mean he doesn't remember when you looked older and had wings?" quizzed the skeptical Taranee. "Why is that weird?"

"Okay. Point." conceded Will. "But there's still something strange going on! The energy doesn't feel right! I need your help to solve this!"

"Energy. Right." said the unbelieving Fire Guardian. "Will, you don't need my help. A million other kids can do what I do! I'm no one special."

"What are you talking about? You're a Guardian of the Veil! None of those other 'benders' can say that!" declared the Energy Guardian.

"Will, it's over. Give it up." said the realistic Taranee. "I know you still feel special because of your energy powers, but the world's moved on. Time to get with the program."

"But, but..." stammered Will.

"Bye, Will." said the dejected former Guardian, who then turned, hung her head, and walked away.

10:22 AM, Katara in Biology class

"Okay, class, each of you will now dissect the frog on your table. If anyone does not wish to participate, please hand in the note from your parents so I can ignore it!" intoned the science teacher, to a stony silent reaction from his students. "Little teacher humor, there! Very little! Anyway..."

"Oops!" said a student near the animal cages. "Mr. Beasley!"

"What is it?" asked the teacher.

"I was cleaning his cage, when I, when Sammy, he got out and fell, and, I think I kind of stepped on him." said the distraught pupil.

"Oh dear." said Mr. Beasley, upon examining the injured guinea pig. "Well, maybe we can turn a negative into a positive. We can always use another dissection subject."

"Can I?" asked Katara, motioning to the others to let her pass so she could see to the animal.

Placing her hands upon the stricken guinea pig, Katara bent water from her waterskin, poured it over Sammy and called upon her healing ability.

Within moments, Sammy's tiny, broken bones healed.

Feeling frisky and full of life, Sammy squirmed out of Katara's hands.

She grabbed him and placed him in his cage before he could get in any more trouble.

"That's, that's amazing!" said the impressed science teacher.

"Cool!" said the other students.

Water bending was common in the world now, but not water healing.

"Do you know what we could do with that?" wondered Mr. Beasley, who, just this once, ignored the edict against bending in school.

"Actually, not much." replied Katara. "That was the first thing the people from your world wanted to know about ours. Well, maybe the second thing. Anyway, it turns out our water healing only accelerates the natural healing ability of living things. All creatures possess the ability to heal themselves...if given the chance." she said, accusingly, while staring at the teacher.

"Er, well, why don't we continue with our course work?" Mr. Beasley gently asked his students, who were upset that their teacher was so quick to write off one of nature's creatures.

10:36 AM, Sokka in Algebra class

While the teacher droned on about equations and whatnot, Sokka squirmed in his seat, trying repeatedly to get in a comfortable position.

_How can Aang stand it? _Sokka thought. _He's probably going nuts, having to sit in one place for so long! On second thought, I've seen him meditating for hours! I bet this place is like a vacation to him! But I'm a warrior!_

This last thought erupted out of his throat unbidden, startling the other students, but most especially the teacher, Mrs. Rudolph.

"Excuse me? Mr. Sokka, is it?" inquired the teacher. "You're a warrior, is that right?"

"Er, yes." replied the Water Tribesman, unsure of what to say.

"I see. Am I boring you, Mr. Sokka?" she asked.

"Actually, yes. I'm a man of action! I'm not used to sitting for lectures!" said Sokka.

"Mm hmm. So you need a challenge?" said Mrs. Rudolph, luring Sokka closer to his doom.

"That's right!" said the proud warrior, pleased that the teacher was agreeing with him.

"Okay. Class, since Mr. Sokka is in need of a more challenging assignment, we're all going to study quadratic equations now!" announced the insidious instructor, erasing the old equations from the chalkboard.

"Ohh!!" groaned the students.

"Thanks a lot, Sokka!" yelled some.

"Gulp!" uttered the chastised Water Tribe boy. "Sorry!"

11:00 AM, Toph between classes

"I need to find Room 214? Can anyone help me?" asked the lost Toph in a near-deserted hallway.

"Sure, I can help you!" said a smarmy schoolboy. "Just go down that hall 50 feet, up the staircase, then turn right and keep on going! You can't miss it!"

Toph noticed a bit of a smirk in his voice.

Also, his compatriots behind him hid their giggling very poorly.

Vibrating her feet against the floor (she wore special shoes with holes cut out on the bottom, so she could maintain contact with the earth at all times), the blind Toph sent out an 'earth sonar' signal that told her of the layout of the school building. And that, if she followed the boy's instructions, she'd walk out an open window.

"Let's try that again." suggested the cheery Toph. "Where is Room 214?"

"What, what are you doing to me??" screamed Uriah.

Uriah was being held against the wall by small rocks (the rocks were kept by Toph in a bag she carried with her. She held the bag behind her back, dropped the rocks on the floor, then did her magic). The rocks pinned Uriah's arms and legs, preventing him from doing any water bending. Plus, one special rock pressed in on Uriah's chest, while another traveled up Uriah's neck and stopped near his mouth.

"I'm here to learn. So why don't you tell me where Room 214 really is?" asked Toph.

"Kurt? Laurent? Help!" yelled Uriah.

"They can't help you." stated the cool earth bending girl.

Uriah could still move his head. When he looked to either side of him, he saw that Kurt and Laurent were pinned against the wall in the same way. Not only that, but their mouths were stuffed with rocks, gagging them. Though Kurt was an earth bender, he had neither the power nor the control of the mighty Toph!

"Mmph! Mph!" they grunted.

"Feel that rock near your mouth?" teased Toph. "I can do to you what I did to them. Even better, although that would be worse in your case, I can crush the rock into little pieces and send it into your lungs, or I can send that rock on your chest straight through to..."

"Okay! Okay!" said the defeated Uriah. "Room 214 is up the stairs, second door on your left!"

"See? That wasn't so hard, now was it? Nice meeting you!" said Toph, as she freed Uriah, Kurt and Laurent and gathered up her rocks. Toph knew Uriah was telling the truth because she could 'feel' the vibration of his heart through the rock on his chest.

"You coulda just asked!" barked the upset Uriah.

"Dude, she did." said Kurt.

"Ah, shuddup!" yelped Uriah.

11:12 AM, Toph in Geography class

"Is there a Toph Bei Fong in this class?" asked a school official, interrupting the day's lesson.

Toph responded with a simple "Here."

"Come with me, young lady." ordered the school administrator.

Exiting the classroom, Toph followed the administrator and had one question for her. "If this is about what happened in the hallway, I..."

"What?" began the school clerk. "No, no. You're simply being transferred to a classroom that can better handle your...special needs. Apparently the person who signed you up made a mistake on the paperwork."

"What? You mean because I'm blind I can't take classes like everyone else? That's not fair! I can take care of myself!" said the proud Toph, who hated the way her parents coddled her when she was growing up.

"Of course you can, dear. But this isn't about that. This is about your education." said the school admin, who _only _talked down to Toph in the slightest way possible. "Here you go, dear." she said, opening the door to Toph's new classroom.

Entering the room, Toph could sense it was bit different from the other classes. Instead of being overcrowded with thirty kids, there were fewer than twenty. And instead of one harried teacher, with an overworked teacher's aide that ran between classrooms, there were three people providing personal instruction to the students, although who was a teacher and who was only a teacher's aide wasn't too clear. Also, some of the students had personal assistants to aid them in their daily tasks.

"I have a new student for you, Miss Randolph. Toph Bei Fong." introduced the school administrator.

"Hi, Toph." said Miss Randolph.

"Hi." said the blind earth bender.

"Now the only thing we need is to set an appointment with Miss Bei Fong's parents for her IEP." said the school clerk.

"My what?" said Toph, who cringed at the mention of her parents.

"Why, your Individualized Education Plan, my dear." said the bureaucratic school admin.

"Oh. Well, my parents are kind of busy, and..." began the upset Toph.

"That's okay, Toph." said Miss Randolph, who could sense the distress in Toph's voice and tried putting her at ease. "Don't worry about it. We can do all that paperwork later. Why don't you take the seat next to Emily?" she added, directing Toph to her seat.

"Okay." said the relieved earth bender.

"Hi." said Emily.

"Hi. I'm Toph." said the Earth Kingdom girl.

"But, Miss Randolph, the IEP!" said the stunned school clerk.

"And I said later! I have a class to get back to. Thank you!" said the firm, yet smiling Miss Randolph, who knew a thing or two about how to handle pushy school admins, as she escorted one out of her classroom.

"But, but..." said the school administrator, as the door shut behind her.

12:05 PM, Lunch Period A

As students hurried to and fro with their lunches, our cast got to know each other a little better (although some worse than others).

Irma and Will

"Irma, there's something wrong with Cornelia! She locked herself in her bedroom and didn't come to school!" said Will Vandom.

"Mm-hmm. And how is that any different from before?" replied the nonchalant Water Guardian, as she sipped her drink.

"But she's your best friend!" said the Energy Guardian, who didn't understand Irma's lackadaisical attitude toward a friend in need.

"Cornelia's a drama queen, Will! You know that. Are you going to finish those fries?" said Irma Lair, as she speared Will's fried potatoes with her fork.

"Did you see her last week, running around barefoot?" continued Irma. "And when I pointed out her dirty feet, she said 'dirt is a natural exfoliant'! Like she's a hippie all of a sudden! And before that, she was burping in front of us and not saying 'excuse me'! It's just to get attention!"

"I think it's more than that, though." said the concerned leader of the Guardians.

"Will, every little crisis isn't about saving the world!" said Irma.

"But this is! I..." began Will.

_And now, a K-SHIP exclusive!_ blared the school radio station speaker.

"Hold on, this is my interview!" crowed Irma.

"Huh? But you're here?" said the slightly confused Will.

"Tape." answered Irma.

"Oh. Right." replied Will.

_"It's Lair on the air! I'm here with Avatar Aang's spokesperson, Katara, who now goes to our school! Katara, what do you have to say to all the kids out there?"_

_"Out there where?" _

_"In radio station land? Is this thing on?_ said Irma, tapping the microphone. _Never mind. So you're here to promote the Avatar Concert for the Air Nomad Temples, which is Saturday. Who are the musical acts?_

_Well, there's We3._

_Yeah, my Dad will love that! Snorefest! Who else?_

_Um, there's Boyzilla. And Vance Michael Justin._

_Now you're talking!_

_(sound of trumpets)_

_So, Katara, what do you think of Heatherfield?_

_It's wonderful! We just enrolled in school so we can learn all we can about your world! I hope to be a doctor one day so I can take all your advanced medical techniques to our people. We've already benefitted so much from your knowledge of sanitation and antibiotics, and..._

_Yeah, uh, Katara? This isn't NPR! Okay, moving on! My producer has just handed me a list of questions. Thanks, Martin! Let's see...If the wind blows free, how much does Avatar Aang charge?..Uriah!!_

"Um, they were supposed to cut that last part!" said an embarrassed Irma Lair to her friend Will. "You were saying?"

"I was saying I can't shake the feeling things are way wrong!" replied Will. "This whole Avatar Aang business is just too strange!"

"What, the concert thing?" asked Irma.

"No. Yes. I don't know!" said the disturbed Will.

"Hey, did you know Matt's band is on the bill? Part of their 'think global, act local' thing." said Irma.

"Yeah, Matt told me that. It should be really cool! I can't wait to see it! What am I saying?? None of this makes any sense!" said the terribly confused Will Vandom. "I don't understand what's going on anymore!"

"What's going on??" said Irma. It was her turn to be irritated. "Will, what happened was, we saved the world! Well, us and the Air Force! They were a big help! Even Ozai couldn't challenge that kind of firepower! Now things are back to normal. Well, as normal as they're going to get! Better than normal, really. We're not constantly on call because Candracar can get someone else to do their dirty work! It's like paradise! You should be happy and enjoy life for once!"

At that moment, laughter came from Aang's table.

"See? Aang's at that table over there! He's enjoying all of this! Why can't you?" asked the peeved Irma.

"I can't." replied Will, with a heavy heart.

"Then I'm sorry. I can't help you with this fool's arrow." said Irma, clearing the remains of her lunch off the table.

"Errand." corrected Will.

"What?" said Irma.

"It's errand, not arrow." said Will.

"Whatever! Bye, Will!" said the agitated Irma, as she left the lunchroom.

"Yeah. Bye." replied Will, who had never felt so alone.

Zuko and Shen

"Wow! Look at this, Zuko!" said Shen, handing food to his friend. "Fish in stick form!"

But the taciturn Prince didn't respond.

Then he bit into the fishsticks.

"Ummm! These are good!" said Zuko.

Moments earlier, at Aang's table

Aang had attracted quite a crowd, who hung on his every word.

"Some group called MTV contacted me." announced Avatar Aang. "They said they want to 'pimp my bison'. Is that a good thing?" he asked them.

The crowd's laughter could be heard clear on the other side of school.

"Uh, that guy's drink went out his nose! Is he okay?" inquired the concerned air bender.

"Watch this." said one girl to her friend. "Aang! The school's serving meatloaf! What do you think about that?"

"Well, I don't eat meat." replied Aang. "But that loaf stuff sure sounds good!"

The crowd was very amused by Aang's ways.

But crowds aren't always a good thing.

Toph, Emily and friend

"He's shifting his weight around!" declared Toph, sensing the boy's foot movements."He's...moving his hands?"

"Andy must be trying to sign you!" said the blind Emily.

"Sign? What?" asked the clueless Toph.

"Andy's deaf!" replied Emily. "Here." she said, grabbing Toph's right hand. She moved Toph's first and index fingers into a 'V', then added "Now put those two fingers in front of your eyes."

"Why?" said the Earth Kingdom girl.

"That'll tell Andy you're blind." Emily informed Toph.

"Really?" said the incredulous Toph, who had never heard of such a thing. She did it anyway, though. But deaf Andy didn't stop trying to communicate with the two blind girls from his special ed class.

"Now what?" asked Toph.

"There's plenty more sign language you can learn." said Emily.

"Deaf people have a whole language??" said the surprised Toph.

"Of course!" Emily replied.

_This world just gets more and more interesting! _thought Toph.

Katara and fellow students

"Wow! Is that a Lauren Moffatt original?" inquired a female student of Katara's fashionable attire.

"No, I sewed this myself." replied Katara. "I found a pattern, and..."

"No way!" said the admiring girl.

"Katara, how long are you going to be in town?" asked another.

"We're not sure. We're staying at the old Brown house right now. We got a good deal on the rental." chatted the water bender to the school girls.

"You want to be a doctor? That's so cool! I want to be a veterinarian, myself!" said one girl.

Katara was becoming quite popular.

1:15 PM, Sokka in Health class

_I liked it better when the women would just stay in their huts when they had their 'female thing'! _thought the uncomfortable Sokka, as he watched the film on the mysteries of the female body.

1:22 PM, Katara in Health class

Katara, like the other girls, watched the film on the mysteries of the male body as if it were any other program.

Except they took notes, of course.

2:10 PM, Aang in Health class

Aang, the humble monk, watched in stunned silence the same film Sokka saw.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing!

And Aang had plenty more to see and learn.

22 minutes more!

_Where's Appa when you really need him? _he thought.

2:22 PM, Toph in Special Ed

The teacher, Miss Randolph, introduced Toph to something she called 'braille'. With it, Miss Randolph said, Toph would be able to learn to read.

This amazed Toph!

Oh, Toph had plenty of private tutors growing up in Gaoling.

The best tutors money could buy!

But they always read to her. She could never read by herself, on account of being born blind.

And since she couldn't read, Toph never enjoyed school.

Eager to learn, but disenchanted with the methods used for her, Toph searched for ways to teach herself, which is how she learned earth bending. From studying the badgermoles in her garden. (Master Yu taught her very little earth bending).

But if she _could_ read, whole other worlds would open up to her!

It would be...

...Incredible!

Fantastic!

It was like a dream come true, a dream Toph never wanted to wake up from!

3:15 PM, Dismissal

"Hey, Toph, want to come over to my house?" asked Emily.

"Sure!" replied Toph.

"No, not the stairs." said Emily, as she tapped her cane down the hallway. "Let's take the elevator."

Once on the elevator, Emily motioned to the control panel.

"There's braille right...here." she said, guiding Toph's hand over the raised surface. "There. That's the symbol for the first floor. Press it, and the elevator will take us there."

Toph was both impressed and delighted.

3:23 PM, on the playground

After school, Zuko and his friend Shen hung out near the basketball court.

"Hey, up for a game of Rockhole?" asked a boy.

"Hee hee! You mean basketball, Caleb!" corrected Alchemy. "You're so funny!"

"Huh? But the man on the TV said he 'brought the rock to the hole'. Was that garbage speak?" said the confused Meridiannite.

"You mean 'trash talking'? Yeah, it's kind of like that!" giggled Alchemy.

"So, you up for some one-on-one?" Caleb again asked Zuko.

"Sorry. It's not really my game. I'm not from around here." said the disinterested Prince Zuko.

"So? Neither am I! I'm from Meridian!" pointed out Caleb. "So it'll be a fair contest. What do you say?"

"Hey, why not, Zuko? This 'basketball' looks like fun!" added Shen.

"No, I don't think so." said Zuko.

"Ah, he's just chicken!" baited Caleb.

This enraged Prince Zuko, and he took up the challenge.

"What are the rules for this 'basketball'?" asked the motivated Prince.

"Simple." replied Caleb. "You bounce the ball to the other side of the court and throw it in the hole."

"You mean 'net'." said Alchemy.

"Right. Net. And I try to stop you." said Caleb. "But no running with the ball! You have to bounce it to move it, but you can turn without bouncing it."

For two novices, the ensuing game was pretty good.

The pair's raw athleticism more than made up for their poor ball handling skills.

Running and jumping up and down the court!

Diving for loose balls!

Leaping to block the other's shot!

It was a close contest, but, in the end, Caleb had the advantage because he had seen how to play basketball on television.

And Prince Zuko had no defense when Caleb dunked over him to end the game!

"Good game, my friend!" said Caleb, holding out his hand to shake Zuko's.

"Yeah. You, too." congratulated Prince Zuko, shaking Caleb's hand and then mopping his brow of sweat.

Then Caleb left the basketball court.

But he didn't leave with Alchemy. There was another girl waiting for him outside the fenced-in ball court.

A girl who made a show of greeting the boy from Meridian.

"Caleb, you were so great!" cooed the girl.

A girl who attracted the attention of the Prince of the Fire Nation.

As the couple walked away, the girl turned her head and looked right at Prince Zuko.

It was Azula!

The evil smile of his estranged sister shot daggers through the young Prince's heart.

Even after she had left the area, the boy Prince quietly seethed with rage.

"Zuko? Are you okay?" asked his concerned friend, Shen.

Then Zuko exploded!

"Nnhhh!!!" he screamed, in agony and frustration, and heaved the basketball at the net, where it bounced on the hoop a couple times before Prince Zuko flashfried the leather ball into little bits with a fire blast, the little bits then falling through the net.

3:25 PM, the blind Emily and Toph navigate home

"Hold it!" said Toph, stopping at an intersection. "There are a lot of those things running through the road."

"You mean cars?" asked Emily.

"Yeah." replied Toph.

"No worries." said Emily, who then pressed a button on the traffic signal pole.

When the light turned green (which neither of the blind girls could see), a voice announced "Walk." and told them how much time they had to cross the street before the light changed.

"It talks!" gushed Toph.

"Uh huh." agreed Emily. "Not only that, but did you notice the bumps in the pavement at the curb? They're really for wheelchairs, but I can feel them with my cane, too. They warn you you're about to enter a street."

"Your world is great, Emily!" exclaimed Toph Bei Fong. "To have all these things to help people who are blind!"

"Or otherwise disabled." replied Emily. "Yeah, I guess it's pretty nice. I've never known anything different."

"Trust me, compared to my world, it's great!" said Toph. "There's just one thing I don't understand."

"What's that?" said Em.

"If they do all of this, the braille in the elevator, the talking street thing, so you can get around like a regular person, why do they treat you differently at school? Why don't they let you take regular class?" asked Toph, speaking from an outsider's perspective.

Emily paused to think about it.

Then she said "I think it has to do with money."

"What do you mean?" inquired Toph.

"The school gets more money from the government for special education than regular education." answered Emily.

"Ha!" laughed Toph. "Your world isn't so different from mine, after all!"

3:35 PM, Silver Dragon restaurant

"Hay Lin!" Will called out to her friend. "I didn't see you at school!"

"Oh, hi, Will!" greeted Hay Hay. "We've been so busy ever since the two worlds were joined together! It seems like everyone wants Asian food now! So I got put on Work Study for half the school day."

"You work at your parent's restaurant and get school credit for it? Nice!" applauded Will. "If slightly rules breakish."

"Yeah, so don't tell the school, okay?" replied Hay Lin. "What's going on, Will?"

"There's a problem that I need the Guardians' help with!" announced the leader of the Guardians.

"Which Guardians?" inquired Hay Lin.

"Huh??" said the dumbfounded Will Vandom.

"Well, there's M.A.G.I.C., F.A.I.R.Y., H.E.A.R.T., B.L.A.S.T., L.E.A.D., S.H.I.N.E., D.E.A.T.H., oh wait, you don't want that one, and, let's see, G.U.A.R.D., E.M.B.E.R., E.L.V.E.S., R.A.I.N.S., P.O.W.E.R., D.J.I.N.N., F.L.A.M.E.S. Did I forget any? Oh, yeah, M.A.G.I.C.A.L.! They have seven members! I think there's even some with all boys! V.A.L.O.R., T.A.L.O.N, C.H.A.R.M. So many!"

"C.H.A.R.M. is boys?" wondered Will. "And which M.A.G.I.C. do you mean? I think there's more than one."

"Hay Lin? Your presence in the kitchen is required." intoned Yan Lin.

"We hired some fire benders as cooks, to save on our utility bill and to help with some of the new dishes, like muzzlegrub and snagglegrass, and let me tell you, Grandma's not too happy about it!" declared the Guardian of Air. "She's such a traditionalist!"

"Hay Lin!" called out the impatient Yan Lin.

"Gotta go, Will! Good luck finding those Guardians you need!" said Hay Lin, the words tumbling out of her mouth in rapid fire fashion. "That rice doesn't cook itself! Bye!" she said, as she sped off.

"Hay Lin? I don't need other Guardians. I need our Guardians. Sighhh." said the lonely leader.

3:53 PM, Emily's home

"Emily? Where have you been?" said Emily's mom, in a stern tone of voice.

_Oh no! _thought Toph. _Her parents are as bad as mine! And they'll probably blame me for 'endangering their daughter' or some garbage!_

"What do you mean, Mom?" asked Emily.

"We were supposed to go to The Supper Club for your cousin's graduation party! Now we'll be late!" said the frantic parent.

"Uh. Mom? That's tomorrow!" said Emily, dropping the news ever so delicately.

"Oh. Right." said the sheepish Mom. "But at least I didn't forget to sign you up for the special recreation league!" she said, proudly.

"That's great, Mom! Thanks!" said Emily.

"Where are your manners, Pam?" said Emily's dad. "Who's your friend, Em?"

"This is Toph! She's a new student." introduced Emily. "She's blind, too, but uses earth bending to see shapes!"

"Well! Pleased to meet you, Toph!" said Emily's father.

"Any friend of Emily's is welcome here! You'll have to stay for dinner!" said Emily's mom. "So you're a new student? How do you like Heatherfield so far?"

"It's great! Everyone's been really nice!" replied Toph.

"An earth bender, huh?" pondered Emily's dad. "Look at those feet! I bet you could do a good job landscaping this place! Better than the guys I hired, anyway!"

"Henry!" exclaimed his wife.

"Dad! I can't believe you'd embarrass me like that!" cried Emily.

"What? What'd I say?" said the jovial Henry.

"Ha Ha!" roared Toph. She was really starting to like this family.

4:05 PM, on a street in Heatherfield

Will, wandering around town, unsure of what to do and feeling sorry for herself, came across a newsstand.

_Look at this! _ thought Will, as she thumbed through some of the magazines on display.

Teen Girl: _Katara's water-based makeup tips _said the blurb on the cover

Esquire: _Avatar Aang on life, air bending, flying bisons and protecting the environment_

(Cover story, with a photo of Aang riding an air ball)

Time: _It's Avatar-mania! _said the top corner blurb

_Maybe Irma's right. _thought a dejected Will. _Maybe everything is okay, and I should enjoy it like everyone else._

Behind her, a truck dropped off a bundle of new magazines.

As the news dealer cut open the bundles of brand new periodicals, Will had an idea.

_No! Something is wrong, and I'll find out what! _declared Will. _I know! Elyon's in town for the diplomatic conference! She'll help me!_

Will ran off, and never saw the new magazines the news seller put in his racks.

4:14 PM, Zuko and Iroh's apartment

"Welcome home, my two favorite nephews! Well, my only nephews!" greeted the ever-ebullient Uncle Iroh. "How was school?"

The sullen Zuko breezed past Iroh without saying a word, which concerned Uncle greatly.

"What's with him?" said Iroh.

"School was fine, Uncle, but afterwards we ran into Azula!" replied Shen.

"Prince Zuko, you must not allow yourself to be shackled by the past!" declared the wise Iroh. "You should not let Azula or anyone else deter you from your path in life!"

"I know, Uncle, but 'my path'? I don't even know what that means anymore!" said the depressed Prince. "I failed in my quest to get the Avatar, and now..."

"Listen to me, Zuko! The situation with the Avatar was taken out of your hands! It was not your fault!" consoled Uncle Iroh. "And now we're in a new world, with an opportunity for a new life!"

"Yes, but..." said an unsure Prince Zuko.

"Nephew...Consider: A few months ago, did you ever think you would have an unscarred face and live in a new land where your whole life was ahead of you and anything was possible?" said Iroh, who then lifted up Zuko's chin to look him in the eye. "Your mother would be so proud!"

"Thanks, Uncle. Really! But it's hard not thinking about my father." said Zuko, squirming out of his uncle's grasp.

"Your father!" spat Iroh. "My brother gave up everything that mattered, love, family, all of it, for power! And what did that get him? Nothing! Do not make the mistake of following his path, Prince Zuko!"

"Speaking of Zuko's father," added Shen, "why is Ozai in town for this diplomatic conference? I've been trying to figure that out."

"Bah! It is only my brother's pathetic attempt to feel important!" replied Iroh. "The world has passed him by, but he refuses to admit it!"

"Zuko...Let me tell you something about fathers." said Iroh, tempering his words with reason and compassion. "There are only two kinds: Those who are proud of their children, and those who fear them. Ozai feared you, Prince Zuko! That is why he treated you as he did!"

"Uncle, I appreciate what you're trying to do, make me feel better, but that's insane!" said the disbelieving Prince Zuko. "My father never feared me!!"

"He did not fear you as you are, but as the man you could become! A greater man than him!" insisted Uncle Iroh. "But, ultimately, it doesn't matter what I say. It only matters what you think, what you believe."

There was a pause, as Zuko considered his uncle's words.

Then...

"Enough about that!" announced Iroh. "Let us discuss something much more enjoyable! Did you meet anyone at school? A girl, perhaps?" he said, grinning.

"Uncle..." said the exasperated Prince Zuko, annoyed at his Uncle Iroh's embarrassing comments.

"Well, there was this one girl." said Shen, spilling the beans. "I think her name was Irma."

"Not you, too, Shen!" cried Zuko.

"Really? What is she like?" inquired the gossipy ex-royal of the Fire Nation.

"She's a water something or other. And I don't like her! It'd never work, anyway! It's just ridiculous!" pleaded Prince Zuko, knowing his entreaties were falling on deaf ears, but compelled to say them regardless.

"Water, eh? Like that water bender you had your eye on at the North Pole?" teased Iroh.

"What? What are you talking about, Uncle?" stammered the (not so) innocent Zuko.

"I saw the way you were looking at her!" revealed Iroh.

"No, Uncle! You're mistaken!" denied the Prince. "It wasn't like that!"

"Who was this? You'll have to tell me all about her!" said Shen.

"Ahhh!" said Prince Zuko, throwing up his hands, as he knew when he was beat.

"Ha Ha Ha Ha" laughed Shen and Iroh.

4:47 PM, the front gate of the Meridian Embassy

"Sorry, miss, but the Queen doesn't see anyone without an appointment!" stated the very professional security guard.

"But, I'm not just anyone!" exclaimed Will. "Elyon knows me! Heck, practically everyone on Meridian knows me! Let me speak to one of them!"

"Is there a problem, guard?" said an official. "Will!" he said, recognizing the young teen.

"Drake!" yelled the gleeful Will, happy to see a familiar face.

"What are you doing here?" asked Drake.

"I was looking for Elyon." answered Will.

"Oh. She's not here yet. The diplomatic conference starts Monday, so she doesn't get in until Sunday." Drake informed the young Guardian. "I'm here with the advance team, but that's it."

"I see." said the crestfallen Will Vandom.

"If you need her, I can tell her and she'll get here right away!" offered Drake.

"No. That's okay. It's nothing important." said Will, downplaying her mission. "Thanks, Drake. See you later." she said, waving goodbye.

5:03 PM, Emily's house

"Your parents are wonderful, Emily!" said Toph, chewing on the last of her early dinner meal.

"Yeah? Sometimes they make me wonder!" replied Emily. "I bet yours are just as cool!"

"What? Oh, sure." responded Toph, the energy drained out of her voice. "My parents are the coolest."

5:17 PM, Zuko & Iroh's apartment (Shen is a temporary houseguest)

While Zuko studied in his room, Shen read a magazine in the nearby living room. He had turned the radio on, so it was playing in the background. A little ditty called "I'm Somebody, Too" flowed out of the speakers.

_You think all I do is pay attention to ya..._

Just then, Iroh bounded out of his room and announced "Well, I'm off to find a job! Wish me luck!"

_...Hear what I say_

"Uncle, I thought we had money?" inquired Prince Zuko.

_Be you I pray_

"No, the money I received for my appearance on _The Iron Teamaker _is almost gone!" Iroh informed Zuko.

_Gonggg_

(In a flashback, Iroh mugs for the camera on the set of _The Iron Teamaker _).

"But I have a very good lead on an employment opportunity!" continued Iroh " There's..."

Just then, the radio station started running commercials, and, typical of broadcast outlets, the volume was cranked up!

_Hey, Heatherfield! Join the whole KDRC morning crew tomorrow at the Avatar's Concert! It'll rock!_

"Ah! A music festival!" exclaimed Iroh. "You should consider going, both of you! Music is very important when one is courting a lady! I myself would not have successfully wooed my wife were it not for my ability with the Tsungi Horn! Although Earth Kingdom music is not my thing."

"Uncle, I don't think that's what they mean by 'rock music'!" replied the dour Prince Zuko. "And I really don't think it's appropriate for me to go to a concert named after the Avatar. I did hunt him for half a year!"

"So? I'm sure the Avatar will let bygones be bygones!" said the confident Iroh, who then became less and less sure of himself. "Eh, maybe if you stood in the back. Wearing a hat."

"Hey, Zuko, it'll be fun!" added Shen. "And I think a lot of the kids at school are going!"

"Maybe..." replied Zuko.

"Hear that?" joked Shen. "A 'maybe' from Zuko is as good as a 'yes' from anyone else!"

"Well, I'm off to the Silver Dragon! Not only are they in the market for a teamaker, but the owner is a very striking woman of excellent breeding and taste!" said the jovial Iroh. "She liked my tea, so she must have good taste!"

"The Silver Dragon, eh?" commented Shen, putting down his magazine and rising from his chair. "Maybe I should go with you, Uncle. Just to keep you out of trouble, of course!"

"Keep me out of trouble? Do you mean that incident with the herbal tea?" wondered the innocent Iroh. "Anyone could have made that mistake! The plants of this world look very similar to the ones on our world, although their effects may be a...little different."

"A _little_ different? That man needed a, what did they call it, emergency tracheotomy! Uncle, I think there's a reason the teas and food of this world come sealed in packages!" argued Shen.

"Hmphh! Good tea does not come out of a box!" said the offended Iroh. "Or could the reason you are so eager to accompany me be due to the fact the owners' granddaughter is a very attractive young woman?" he said, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, it sure doesn't hurt!" said Shen. "Zuko, want to come with?"

"No, that's okay, Shen. I have things to work on here." replied Prince Zuko.

"Suit yourself!" said Shen. "Let's go, Uncle!" he said, as they walked out the door.

Prince Zuko then moved to the living room and took out his exercise mat.

He noticed the radio was still on.

"Shen?" Zuko called out the door to his friend. "You left your music machine on! Shen?"

_Just a city boy_

But there was no answer. Shen and Iroh were already long gone.

Zuko tried to turn it off, but only hit the controls for the CD player, which didn't affect the radio at all.

Frustrated, Zuko gave up and started his Northern Shaolin exercises.

_Payin anything to roll the dice,  
Just one more time  
_

6:07 PM, Toph returns to the Gaang's home

"Toph? What happened to you?" exclaimed Katara.

"I was with a friend." stated Toph. "Why, Katara? Were you worried about me?"

"You made a friend on your first day? Uh, I mean, worried? No, of course not!" denied Katara, not too convincingly. "You're perfectly capable of taking of yourself! But, you know, we are in a strange place, and..."

"I told you it was something like that!" said Sokka. "I suggested we all leave the house so you think you came back to the wrong one! That would have been so funny!" he joked.

"Yeah, that would have been hilarious, Snoozles!" said Toph, she of the dry wit. "You know what else would be funny?"

"Um, why does it feel like there's something in my pants?" said the worried Sokka.

"Yeow!" he jumped up. "Rocks!! Ow ow ow ow!" he said, as rocks fell out of his pants.

"So, Toph, did you have fun with your friend?" asked Aang.

"Yep!" replied the happy, smiling Toph.

"That's great!" said Aang.

6:14 PM, Will returns home and collapses on her front stoop

_Now what? _thought the defeated Will. _What am I supposed to do now?_

6:32 PM, the Gaang's home

"Toph?" inquired the curious Katara. "I always meant to ask you, why did you stay with us after the Fire Lord was defeated? You could have gone home."

"You really want to know, Sugarqueen?" replied Toph, using her unflattering term for Katara in an effort to discourage her.

"Yes, I really do." said the determined Water Tribe girl.

"The fact is, Aang still needs my help. And I like being around you guys. That good enough for you?" offered the slightly uncomfortable Toph, who had a hard time voicing her feelings.

"You like being around us?" asked Katara. "Even me?"

"Yes, Katara, even you." admitted Toph.

"That's so sweet!" said Katara.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get all mushy on me, okay? Then I'll have to wash my face!" said the grumpy Toph, calling off Katara's attempt at a hug.

Then Toph remembered what had happened that day.

How this world helps blind people live their own lives.

How Toph told Emily her parents were the coolest.

How worried Katara was when she came home.

How Sokka joked, and Aang was supportive.

She...she really did have the coolest family!

"Katara..." said Toph, actually sounding serious for once.

"Yes, Toph?" asked the slightly puzzled Katara.

"I...Thanks for bringing me with you to this world. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me." said the sincere Toph.

"You're welcome, Toph!" said the very pleased Katara.

"Oh, go ahead!" said Toph, caving in.

"What do you mean?" asked Katara.

"You know you want to give me a hug, so just do it!" said Toph. "Before I change my mind!"

So Katara did.

"Thanks, Toph! I like having you here, too!" said Katara, embracing the young earth bender in a loving hug.

"Yeah." added Toph. "Now let's help Aang pull off the greatest concert ever tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, Toph. Sure." said Katara, ending the hug as Toph marched off.

As the sun drew ever closer to the horizon, three people considered their fate.

One knew hope.

_Even Toph's come around! _thought Katara. _I think everything's going to work out!_

_Just a small town girl, livin in a lonely world  
_

One knew despair.

_Something's wrong! _thought Will. _But everyone's abandoned me! _

_Some will win, some will lose  
Some were born to sing the blues__  
_

And one...well, his thoughts remained his own.

As Zuko worked out, extending his leg as far as possible in an effort to improve his kicks, something haunted the young Prince. Something he couldn't take his mind off of, try as he might. He kicked and kicked, and then kicked some more.

_Don't stop believin_

_Hold on to the feelin_

Three very different people, with three very different reactions to the strange, new world they find themselves a part of.

A famous writer once said "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

But who are the principal players of our drama, who are the supporting cast, and who are merely incidental?

Ponder this, as another makes his fateful move.

7:04 PM, Silver Dragon restaurant

A black limo pulled up to the curb, and a very regal-looking man emerged.

He then called on the owner of the restaurant.

"Mrs. Lin?' said the man.

"Yes? I'm very busy, Mr..." said Yan Lin, who then saw who her guest was. "Oh my."

"I'm Fire Lord Ozai, Mrs. Lin." he announced. "And I'm here to talk to you about your granddaughter. If we could step inside?"

As they talked, the world continued to spin on its axis.

And as the sun set, ending one day, it also edged ever nearer to crossing the equator, signaling the start of fall, season of the Air Nomads.

_Oh, the movie never ends  
It goes on and on and on and on  
_

_Next:_

_If you think Ozai has something terrible in store for Hay Lin,_

_wait till you see what he has planned for Aang and the gaang!_

_Can Will figure it out in time?_

_And will any of the other Guardians help her?_

_Plus:_

_Some fun things, too, like Sokka driving a car!_

_And appearances by Matt, Blunk, and an 'old friend'!_

_But first:_

_As if things couldn't get any weirder,_

_Sokka is visited by an old (deceased) friend who gives him a warning._

_Weirder yet, it's not even a warning about their present predicament!_

_(This is all planned wayyy far ahead!)_

Notes

With all the switching around from character to character to create one interlocking story, it's almost like a movie. Or a real novel!

Did you get the digital cable joke? (W.I.T.C.H. is only available on digital cable). I can just imagine Will saying that while she stares right into the camera.

After writing her, I like Katara even more! She's so cool! Smart, warm, funny, capable, just the right amount of toughness. She's got, like, everything! The show writers must like her, too. Katara's probably every girl they ever wanted all through middle school, high school, college, their twenties, thirties, etc.

The reporter brings up an interesting point, which I never realized until I wrote this chapter. That Aang's mission is ultimately doomed. Even if he defeats the Fire Lord, the line of Avatars will end the next time it's Air's turn because he's the last air bender. He can't re-populate an entire race by himself. Consider: If Aang marries Katara, the odds are 50/50 the child will be Water Tribe. And even if he had two kids, a boy and girl, and both were Air Nomad, you don't want them marrying each other. So you need more Air Nomads to bring the race back. I predict the TV show will totally ignore this little problem, though. Or they'll 'magically' solve it.

The Dalai Avatar/Panchen Avatar bit is based on the situation in our world with the Dalai Lama/Panchen Lama. Which is fitting, since the Air Nomads are based on Tibetan Buddhists. I could go into a long diatribe about it, but you'll learn more if you look it up yourself. I don't know why almost all the TV shows for kids never have anything pertaining to the real world. They try very hard to be 100 percent nonsense! They would be infinitely better if they ever elected to take a stand, on any debated topic. Almost like real art, instead of the corporate hackwork they aspire to be.

Spencer's Gifts sells flavored air (citrus, mint, and tropical are some of the flavors).

Writing this chapter, I couldn't decide whether the Guardians are still a secret or if they figured it didn't matter anymore on a world full of elemental benders and told everyone. I'm leaning towards it still being a secret, since that's what the Oracle drummed into them. And it makes for better drama.

"I'm afraid...of fading into the background, of becoming anonymous Taranee again." - Taranee, from _A is for Anonymous. _Taranee wants to be special. That's why she was getting all Scoobyish and figuring out the tourist traps in Chapter 26. She was 'acting up' slightly to get attention.

M.A.G.I.C., F.A.I.R.Y., H.E.A.R.T., B.L.A.S.T., L.E.A.D., S.H.I.N.E., D.E.A.T.H., G.U.A.R.D., E.M.B.E.R., E.L.V.E.S., R.A.I.N.S., P.O.W.E.R., D.J.I.N.N., F.L.A.M.E.S., M.A.G.I.C.A.L., V.A.L.O.R., T.A.L.O.N, and C.H.A.R.M. are all names of Guardian-like teams from other fanfictions. Most don't make any sense in the context of the story because they're daughters or sons of the original Guardians, or happen far in the future, or come from other worlds, stuff like that. But it's a fun way to mention others' work.

"That rice doesn't cook itself!" is an actual Hay Lin quote from the TV series.

The song on the radio Shen is listening to is from _S is for Self _called _I'm Somebody Too_. It was performed by Alchemy and the Grumpers. It's a tricky clue to what's going on, but don't overthink it. Here's a hint: The words have nothing to do with the clue. So why are they there? (And Mrs. Rudolph is a clue, too).

KDRC (I think I got the correct call letters) is the radio station from the episode _The Mudslugs_.

"Ozai fears you becoming a greater man than he, Prince Zuko!" said Uncle Iroh.

I have a theory about Zuko. Namely, that he was fated to be the Avatar - before Aang got frozen. If all the air benders had been wiped out, the next Avatar would have been from the Water Tribe. As a war was on, this Avatar probably would have had a short life. The next Avatar would have been from the Earth Kingdom. Safe behind Ba Sing Se's high walls, old age would have defeated him or her. The following Avatar would have been Fire Nation. And that's where Zuko comes in. It explains why Ozai despises Zuko, and why Zuko hates Aang so much. But it's just a theory. I bet the show doesn't mention it.

Yes, that is Journey's _'Don't stop believin' _at the end there. And I did get the idea from the Sopranos finale. But it worked, and that was the important thing. Just don't ask me what 'streetlight people' means!

That last visual, of the sun crossing the equator, was inspired by the TV show _Heroes_, but it's too cool to leave out. And it actually has some relevance to the story (I don't know what an eclipse has to do with the super powers in _Heroes_).


	44. Interlude 13: Sokka and Yue

Interlude Thirteen: Sokka and Yue

_Sokka..._

The voice drifted through Sokka's consciousness. It felt familiar. Who?

Opening his eyes, Sokka saw he was still in bed in his current Heatherfield home.

But the weirdest part was the girl floating in the air above him.

Yue!

She was a vision, an absolute _vision, _of beauty, all dressed in white!

"Yue?" gasped Sokka. "Am I dreaming?"

"Yes. No. It's hard to explain. The veil between our worlds is very thin here. But this is real, Sokka." said the Spirit of the Moon.

"I've missed you so much." said the sick at heart Sokka.

"I know. But I'm not here for us. I've been sent to warn you." Yue informed him.

"Warn me? Why?" asked the Water Tribe warrior.

"There are things going on you don't understand! Even I don't understand it completely, but then, I've only been a Spirit for a short time." said Yue, twisting around so she didn't have to meet Sokka's gaze.

"Yue, what is it?" said the concerned boy.

"Sokka, you and your friends are in great danger! You're in the middle of a war that's older than you or I! It's probably even older than the Avatar!" said the worried Spirit, looking Sokka in the eye.

"Well, yeah, the war with the Fire Nation has been going on for 100 years, although it's cooled off quite a bit. So?" replied Sokka.

"That's not the war I'm talking about." she said, closing her eyes as if she was in concentrating on what she had to say.

"Yue? What do you mean?" said Sokka, who was really worried now.

"There's only so much I can tell you." said the floating Spirit. "Sokka, I've been given a vision of the future. You'll have to make a decision very soon, and if it's the wrong one, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"Why me? I'm just a Water Tribe warrior! Yue, what's going on?" asked the boy.

"It's because you stand in-between. Man always has to make the choice, or..." she said, turning away from the one who loved her. "I have to go now. I'm out of time."

"Yue?? Wait!! Don't go!" pleaded Sokka.

"Goodbye, Sokka. I love you." said Yue, her face (and lips) gliding ever closer to Sokka. "Remember to follow your heart. It will..." she said, fading out before their lips touched.

"Yue?" choked Sokka, his longing for her almost unbearable.

Then Sokka woke up.

He was all alone in his room, late at night.

_Follow my heart? _thought Sokka. _How can I, when it feels as if it's been ripped right out of me!_

_Next:_

_Things get worse!_

_A lot worse!_

_Ozai makes his move, Aang & his friends are in trouble, the whole world is at risk,_

_the army's called out, the Guardians are in disarray, Will's on her own..._

_Can __anyone__ save the day??_

_Plus:_

_Who is really responsible for this brave, new world the girls find themselves in?_

_It's a shocker!_

Notes

A Spirit is front and center here, but Spirits have been operating way behind the scenes in my story since the beginning. The Guardians were separated when they came to Aang's world. That could have been the work of the Spirits. Guru Pathik being thrown in jail (to help Will), and his subsequent flight to Hi No Wa to meet Irma, must have been the work of the Spirits. Then there's Wan Shi Tong helping Taranee. And, of course, Hei Bai even talked to Cornelia (something he'd never done before, with _anyone_.) Plus, Koh's actions. He knew Phobos was looking for him, and had a plan prepared. Even Shen's accidental balloon flight was probably caused by the Spirits (but good or bad spirits?). Aang's dream came from the Spirits, too. And Earth Spirits were very active in Placid Springs, both in ancient times and more recently. So what's going on in the Spirit World? You'll find out in Act IV: Air.


	45. Aang in Heatherfield, Part 2

**Author's Note: Forget what I said last chapter. This is my best stuff! It's a little long, but wait till you read...**

**Ah, just enjoy!**

Chapter 29: Aang & The Guardians in Heatherfield, Part 2

Equinox (One Nation Under Fire)

_In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact._

- Sun Tzu, _The Art of War_

9:09 AM, Saturday, September 22 (3 hours and 21 minutes before the Autumnal Equinox), Will Vandom's bedroom 

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" said the abnormally cheery voice. "You're not going to sleep the day away, are you?" said the woman, as she opened the drapes, letting in the sunlight.

"Ohhhh." groaned Will, rolling over to shield her eyes from the light.

"Come on, Will!" said her mom. "I need some things at the store."

"But it's Saturday!" protested Will, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"And it's a beautiful day!" said Mrs. Vandom, as she left the room. "Don't waste it!"

_Well, _thought Will, a_t least today can't be any worse than yesterday! Did all my friends desert me? Or did I just imagine it?... Yes, they did._

As Will got dressed, Billy the TV turned himself on.

_The Cost of Freedom _was Billy's viewing choice.

_In this boom economy, how do you know which stocks to invest in?_

_Anything but oil!_

"Billy, come on, a business show?" cried Will in disgust.

"It's never too early to invest for your retirement, young lady!" lectured Billy the Television.

"When you can't even drive a car yet, and it's a Saturday, yes, it is too early!" insisted Will.

Disgusted with her bossy television, Will paid little notice to the rest of the program.

_Coming up: How the fire-bending-aided energy economy can benefit you!_

9:42 AM, Aang's rental home in Heatherfield

"What do you mean Vance Michael Justin's rider says he has to have Diet Chocolate Fudge Soda and Gummi Bears Green Apple or he won't perform? What do you want me to do about it?" barked the annoyed Katara into her cellphone. "You can't find any? Anywhere? Sighhh. Okay, let me think. Hmm. He's got fans who are always trying to meet him, right? I bet they have stashes of the stuff! Contact the fanclub. Yeah. Look, I have to go! Rono's on the other line. Okay. Later. Rono! Hi!"

"Katara?" asked the polite Aang, who didn't like interrupting his friend while she took care of business, but felt he had to.

"Yes, Aang? What is it? I have Rono on the phone!" said the stressed water bender. "Hold on, Rono, the Avatar calls. Right."

"This outfit you got me?" said Aang, pulling uncomfortably at the collar. It was a rather snappy-looking blue tunic and pants, with matching hat. Very high societyish, Earth Kingdom style.

"What's wrong with it?" snapped Katara. "I think it looks very nice on you!"

"It makes me look like a Ba Sing Se tea merchant!" complained Aang.

"But the volunteers made a matching wrap for Appa! It...Hold on. You're right! It'd make you two look like circus performers! Just wear whatever you want!" said the flustered Katara, who then got back to her phone call. "Rono? About your set list? Oh, Aang?" she called out to the Avatar. "Make sure it's clean! Sorry, Rono. Anyway, Aang likes that one about finding yourself. I stilllll. Yeah, that one! Perfect! Uh huh."

10:01 AM, Will runs to the store

On her way to the market, Will passed others going about their business, but paid them little mind.

Firemen answering an alarm.

_A fire? I'm sure they have it under control!_

Men waiting by the side of the road.

_Must be immigrants looking for work. Well, it's a good economy!_

And men and women constantly chattering into their phones and PDA's.

_Geez, it's Saturday! Loosen up, people!_

There was a construction boom downtown, which meant Will had to crawl around roped-off sections of the sidewalk.

On the way back, she decided to stop in CafeTeara for a grande caramel macchiato with a shot of peppermint, breve, extra foamy.

A couple of TV's were on in the cafe, but Will was only dimly aware of it.

Because Will was distracted by the rude guy with the PDA.

"Hey! Watch it!" Will yelled, as the guy bumped her.

In her anger, some of her electricity leaped into his PDA and shut it down.

"Huh? Out of power?" said the self-absorbed man, not even noticing the person he hit. "Eh. No problem."

He then stuck his finger into a port on the device's back, bent fire, and the PDA came back on!

Will could only stare at this improbable sight!

"Hmmm?" said the man, eyeballing Will. "What are you looking at, kid?"

"Nothing." replied Will.

Will then looked around. Using her Guardian senses, she could tell many of the well-dressed businesspeople yapping into their phones and pecking away at their laptops were fire benders.

On a TV at one end of the cafe, a beaming computer genius touted his new product.

_...and with the new Blackfire port, you can bend power right into your phone, PDA or laptop!_

_That's amazing, Mr. Stile!_

_We're excited about it! You'll never again have to worry about running out of power! It opens up a whole new era of computing and connectedness! _

_For those who are gifted, anyway!_

_Ha Ha!_

_And now, a word from our sponsors..._

_...Get the new Pontiac Fuego hybrid, and put a fire bender in your tank! Even the former Vice President likes it! "With the new fire bender economy, we can all reduce our carbon footprint. That's why I support the Pontiac Fuego." Pontiac Fuego...It's part fire bender, and all vroom! Available soon!_

At the other end of the coffeehouse, the TV impassively offered up the day's news.

_...Oil prices continue to fall, as fire bending accounts for more and more of our energy needs. In other news, massive riots gripped Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the third day straight. The United States and its new allies in the Fire Nation have agreed to send in peacekeepers to assist the government. Meanwhile, in Venezuela, the leader of the recent coup announced that..._

_Oh No!_ Will realized. _Things are way worse than I thought!_

Running out of the store and down the street, Will saw the people she encountered earlier in a new light.

The firemen putting out the fire? Many of them were water benders.

As was the paramedic.

"There, there, dear. We got you out in time. You're going to be alright." said the paramedic, consoling the victim of the fire. "Would you like some water?" asked the paramedic, as she bent water from a bottle into a cup and gave it to the victim.

The immigrants on the side of the road looking for work?

They found work, alright. In landscaping. They were earth benders!

And the suits in the downtown business district always on the phone, making deals and whatnot?

Fire benders!

Will felt dizzy.

The world was changing way too fast, and it didn't feel like a good change.

Then she saw the magazine stand.

The magazines were a lot different from the day before.

_What's going on here? _thought Will, as she thumbed through the periodicals. _How to keep that watery tart away from your salt of the earth man? We take a Mad look at the Avatar? Inside: Shocking revelations about Avatar Aang? Let's see...Due to the trauma suffered by Avatar Aang so early in his life, psychologists predict he is likely to lash out at anyone trying to help him...What is this garbage? Yesterday, these magazines were gushing over Aang and his friends! Now, it's like..._

Then she saw the cover of NewsWeek.

The cover depicted a side view of a defeated Aang, head slumped, with a giant question mark above him.

The cover copy read: _Does The Avatar Have A Future?_

The ominous artwork sent a chill up Will's spine.

Then her attention was drawn to a TV for sale in a shop window.

_...We're talking to the Panchen Avatar, Guo Dong. Sir, Dalai Avatar Aang was away for a long time. Many believe because of that, he lost his connection to the elements and, therefore, to the people. What do you say to that?_

_I have the utmost respect for Avatar Aang. But it does trouble me that he spends his time traveling the world, 'having fun', instead of practicing his faith and living an ascetic lifestyle._

_After the commercial break, we'll be talking with other religious leaders, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and the President of the Catholic League, for their views on Avatar Aang._

_Oh no! _ thought Will. _Someone's targeting Aang! They're trying to destroy him! But who?_

Then Will saw the building under construction.

Not only were there immigrant (and native) earth benders working at the site, using their earth-moving powers to transport people and material to the upper reaches of the burgeoning skyscraper, but Will saw the sign on the fence: _Coming Soon: Ozai Towers_

_Ozai!! _thought the Guardian of Energy. _He's behind this!...Great. What do I do now?_

10:25 AM, Aang's rental home

"Katara?" called the voice, interrupting another of Katara's phone calls.

"What is it?" yelped the water bender. "Can't you see I'm on the phone?"

"I just wanted to know if I should change?" asked the earth bending girl.

"What?" said Katara, puzzled at the request.

"For the broadcast?" added Toph.

"You...want to be on the broadcast?" uttered the stunned Katara. "I'll have to call you back. Bye!" she said, hanging up the phone. "That's great, Toph! What brought this on?"

"If I'm going to be a part of this thing, I might as well be a part of all of it!" replied Toph. "Besides, I figured you wanted me to, even though you never said it."

"Oh. So you don't even care about being on the broadcast! You're only doing it to please me!" said the slightly miffed water bender.

"Pretty much. Yeah." answered the smiling Toph.

There was a pause, as Katara stared at Toph and Toph, being blind, didn't stare back but instead continued with her goofy grin.

"I can accept that." said Katara, pulling her mouth into a smile. "Let's pick you out something nice to wear!" she said, leading Toph to her closet.

"Oh, uh, Toph..." added Katara, on the sly, making sure they were alone. "Do you have any more of those chocolate bon bons?"

10:53 AM, outside the Consulate of the Fire Nation in Heatherfield

_This is Ozai's headquarters in Heatherfield until his tower is built. _Will mused to herself. _Now how do I get inside to find out what he's planning? Hmmm. I know! I'll ask the security system to turn itself off until I get in, then I'll ask the cameras not to take my picture. That'll work, right? Then..._

"Excuse me, young miss?" said the very polite woman dressed as a traditional geisha.

"Who?" said the startled Will Vandom.

"You wish to see Lord Ozai, yes?" said the geisha.

"I, uh, yeah. I mean, yes." said the totally taken aback Will.

"Follow me, then." requested the geisha, who then turned around to lead Will through the Consulate.

"Hold on!" said Will, regaining her senses. "Let's do this meeting in a public place. That...food court over there." she said, pointing to the public gathering place next to the plaza.

"As you wish, young miss. I shall return with Lord Ozai momentarily." said the geisha, bowing.

_Well, _thought Will, _this should be interesting! I might even learn what's going on! If Ozai doesn't destroy me, that is!_

11:01 AM, outside Aang's rental home

As Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph walked to their vehicle, various reporters ambushed them and shoved microphones in their faces.

_Aang! Is it true you were sent to the Principal's office on your first day of school?_

"A simple misunderstanding, that's all!" stated Katara, trying to keep her cool.

_You're four children living together without any parents around! Doesn't that set a bad example for the youth of America?_

"Our father fully supports what we're doing!" said Katara, her voice rising.

_Why are you in the old Brown home? _

"We received a good deal on the rental!" barked Katara, clearly annoyed with the accusatory tone of the questions.

_What's your connection to the Browns, who vanished under mysterious circumstances?_

"No more questions!" yelled Sokka, who shielded Aang from the reporters and ushered everyone into their Toyota Prius hybrid. "Let's get out of here!" said the Water Tribe warrior, as he zoomed away from the pesky press.

"That was weird! Must be those paperozzie guys." commented Aang, in the front passenger seat.

"Paparazzi. Just ignore them, Aang!" said the curt Katara, sitting in the back seat behind Aang, and next to Toph.

"Ah, sure they're weird! So? There are a lot of weird things in this world!" said Toph. "But sometimes weird can be good!" she added philosophically, settling into her carseat in the rear seat behind Sokka and putting on headphones to listen to music.

_It's time to shine and make_

_All your dreams come true_

_You wish upon a dog star _

_...I am heaven in the spirit of the sun_

11:07 AM, downtown Heatherfield food court

"May I present President Ozai." said the geisha to Will Vandom.

"President?" said the puzzled Will.

"There were certain...changes in the structure of our society after our worlds were joined together." Ozai informed the Guardian.

"You mean it was the only way for you to hold onto power after we defeated you?" Will said, trying to bait him into saying more than he wished to reveal.

Lord Ozai didn't utter a word in reply to this personal affront. He didn't have to. The rage on his face said it all.

_Easy, Will! _thought the Energy Guardian. _You don't want to end this interview before it's begun!_

Then Ozai's features softened.

"Discussion of my nation's politics would only bore you." said Ozai. "Besides, I predict that situation will change very soon." he said, grinning.

"Why? What are you planning?" demanded Will.

"Are all children in this land as disrespectful as you? No wonder my son prefers it here!" said the former Fire Lord.

"Don't play games with me!" insisted Will. "I know you're plotting something against Aang! What is it, revenge?"

"You have me all wrong, my dear!" said the calm Ozai. "It is not I who will do anything to Aang. He will do it to himself. Would you like some chai tea? I know the teamaker personally, and can assure you it's of the very best quality."

"I'm not here for tea!" said Will, in a loud voice, sparks flying from her red hair. "And what's this about Aang? What will he 'do to himself'?"

"You don't know that much about the Avatar, do you?" said Ozai, who then received his cup of tea. "Thank you."

Will stared at Ozai in confusion.

"No, I can see that you don't. Not surprising, since the Avatar was away for more than 100 years, and even when he, or she, was around, was more legend than history to our people." said Ozai, drinking his tea.

"What are you getting at?" Will wanted to know.

"Simply that the Avatar is an anachronism. He doesn't belong. And nature has its ways of removing that which does not belong." said Ozai, sipping his tea. "This is exquisite tea. Are you sure you don't want any?"

Will recoiled in fear. She could feel something bad, _real bad_, was about to happen.

But she recovered quickly and continued her interrogation of President Ozai.

"No. No tea." said Will. "What...what are you planning, Ozai? Tell me, or..." said Will, shooting lightning bolts at the wall.

"That's wonderful, the way you can do that so effortlessly. I wish we had more like you!" admired the cool as a cucumber Lord Ozai. "We're not so different, you and I, you know. And your nation is amazing! They're natural fire benders. Such drive! Being here is like having Sozin's Comet every day! And your 'assimilation' is a much superior model for a nation than ours. We were always at each others' throats, so we couldn't achieve a fraction of the things yours did! Although you do go for that vulgar coffee, but to each his own, I suppose."

Will gulped, and tasted her grande caramel macchiato again as she threw it up in her throat.

"I, I'm nothing like you, Ozai!" said Will, sounding very defensive.

Ozai just smirked, which made Will even crazier.

"Quit trying to change the subject, Ozai, and tell me what you're doing to Aang!" she ordered the former supreme ruler of the Fire Nation.

"Hmm, I suppose I can tell you. Not as if you can do anything about it." he said, putting down his tea cup.

"What? What is it?" demanded Will.

"Do you know what today is?" asked Ozai.

"September 22. So?" replied Will.

"It's the first day of fall. And fall is the season of the Air Nomads! I'm going to bring them back!" bragged Ozai.

Will had nothing to say to this surprise revelation.

11:19 AM, Aang and the others in their car

"I still don't see why we couldn't have taken Appa!" groused Aang, as their car, caught in traffic, repeatedly lurched forward and then stopped.

It seemed as if everyone in Heatherfield was going to the Concert. Or, if they weren't on the way there, they were on the road (gas was very cheap, you know). The traffic jams, therefore, were unreal.

"You know we couldn't do that, Aang!" said Katara, answering her friend's complaint. "The government has a no fly zone in Heatherfield."

"A 'no fly zone'!" mocked Aang. "These people act like they own the air!"

"You saw how many planes they had flying in the air at the airport!" replied the Water Tribe girl. "They have to control all that somehow! It's their way, Aang. We'll just have to go along with it! But our trip would be a lot more pleasant if a certain _someone_ knew how to drive!"

"Are you saying I don't know how to drive, Katara?" said the offended Sokka.

"Let's just say, I'm fairly certain you're supposed to only use one foot for braking and acceleration, Sokka!" said the testy water bender, offering advice with a side of attitude.

"What are you talking about? There are two pedals, and I have two feet! Simple, see? Besides, are you a graduate of Fast Eddie's 1-Day Driving School? No, you're not! So sit back and be quiet!" said the irked Water Tribe boy.

"Don't worry, Aang! In a few months, I'll have my learner's permit, and we won't have to put up with this anymore!" said the catty Katara.

"You don't like my driving? Do you want to get out right now, Katara?" said Sokka, stopping the car.

"What's with you, Sokka? You've been grouchy all morning! Sleep on the wrong side of the hut?" said his sister.

"Well, actually...Oh, never mind!" said Sokka, re-starting the automobile.

"I think both of you should calm down!" said Avatar Aang. "And I'm including myself in that. We're all a little on edge with this new life and mission of ours. Maybe we should follow Toph's example and play some music."

"Fine. I'll put on some tunes!" said Sokka, turning on the radio.

But the station Sokka tuned in wasn't playing music.

_...You're listening to the KDRC morning crew! We're here with Avatar Aang's spokesperson Katara, the water bender!_

_I dated a water bender once! She was a lot better than that earth bender girl, let me tell ya!_

_Why is that, Jeff?_

"Could we listen to something else, please?" Katara asked, in a firm voice.

"No, no. I want to hear this!" replied the eager Sokka.

_The earth bender was always leaving rocks in bed! _

_(snare drum)_

_But the water bender? She was always wet!_

_Oooohhh! Jeff! Our guest is under 18!_

_Really? We'll have to have a countdown to your birthday!_

"Turn it off, Sokka!" demanded Katara.

Sokka just grinned at his sister's obvious irritation with the situation.

_Why would you have a countdown to my birthday?_

_Because...(Whisper whisper)_

_That's disgusting! I'm leaving!_

_Aw! But don't you know what happens on your birthday? You get a birthday spa-_

In a flash, Katara jumped up, reached over into the front seat and changed the radio station!

"Katara? What was that all about?" asked the clueless Aang.

"Never mind!" snapped Katara.

"But..." begged Aang.

"Never. Mind." said the stern Water Tribe girl, in no uncertain terms.

Sokka laughed.

"And you better not say anything either, mister!" Katara ordered her brother.

Luckily for Katara, the new radio station played songs.

_Shootin' at the walls of heartache_

_Bang bang_

_I am the warrior_

_Well, I am the warrior_

_And heart to heart you'll win..._

Although it wasn't the music she wanted to hear.

"Great. Classic rock? Not much better." muttered Katara under her breath, arms crossed in annoyance. "Oh! Whatever!"

11:10 AM, downtown Heatherfield food court

Will struggled to take in what Ozai told her. (She wasn't as smart as Taranee, after all).

_Bring back the Air Nomads? What? _thought Will. _I don't get it! That would be a good thing, right? But this is Ozai, power-hungry dictator of a ruthless, war-mongering nation! So why would he...?_

Then it hit her.

"You're...you're going to do something to Aang to make this scheme of yours work, aren't you?" guessed Will.

"As I said, it's not what I do to Aang. It's what he does to himself that makes it all possible!" gloated President Ozai. "I'm only taking advantage of the situation. And the sacrifice of one boy to bring a whole race back is a small price to pay!"

"No! We won't let you hurt Aang! It's not right, even if you say you're doing it for a good reason!" said the moral Will Vandom.

" 'We'?" joked Ozai. "I only see you here, not your friends. Besides, I'm not alone. I couldn't do this without help!" said Ozai, who then clapped his hands.

"When the Avatar passes away into the dustbin of history, we'll use a new template to re-create the Air Nomads: Your fellow Guardian!" announced Ozai, as his people escorted two women, one young and one old, into the food court.

"I'm sorry, Will!" said a teary-eyed Hay Lin.

"Hay Lin?? What??" said the extremely shocked Will Vandom. "You're my friend! How could you?"

"Grandma said I have to do this, and I...I have to listen to Grandma!" said Hay Lin, averting her eyes from Will's disbelieving gaze.

"But, Hay Lin, you can't...!" pleaded Will, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Mrs. Lin?" said the dumbfounded Will to Hay Lin's grandmother, Yan Lin. "I don't understand! You've always followed the teachings of Candracar before!"

But the old woman had no response for the young Guardian.

"Candracar??" said Ozai. "She's doing this because of Candracar! Don't you think the Lins are tired of living under the yoke of Candracar? More than anything else, air elementals desire freedom!"

"No! You're wrong! You did something to them!" cried Will.

"Ha! Believe that if you must!" said the sinister Ozai. "When we're through, the Air Nomads will be back! Only, instead of separating themselves from others, living on a mountaintop practicing their useless art and philosophy, they'll be using their gifts up here...with us!"

Immediately, Will thought of Ozai's skyscraper under construction.

And how it was being built by earth benders.

And how the water benders, as firemen or paramedics, only aided society, by helping those in need.

Neither of them fought fire benders. Because that would be like fighting their brothers and sisters!

And the air benders would be the same way! They'll be working for the fire benders too!

Ozai was going to win!

"No. No. I, I'll stop you." squeaked Will, none too convincingly.

"And then all of the elemental powers will be available to the people!" said Ozai, continuing his rant. "They won't have to study or train to gain their power! Or rely on that power being 'given' to them by beings from another world! Then all one would need do is gather such beings together. And I know a little something about acquiring power."

"There, there are others! I'll contact the government!" declared Will. "They'll stop your mad scheme!"

"Ha! Who do you think is helping me?" crowed Ozai. "What do you think they want more? A silly little boy Avatar running around, or 1.50 a gallon oil? And none of this would have been possible without your help! Well, yours and Phobos'! A fool, although he did have his uses! But forget about him! I never did thank you for what you did, did I?"

"What are you babbling about now?" said the defensive Will.

"Why, bringing our worlds together, of course! Pure genius! Tell me, Will, have you heard from Candracar lately?" teased Ozai.

"I don't know what you mean!" said Will, who hadn't heard from Candracar, but had to put up a brave front, anyway.

"You haven't, have you? Want to know why? That little stunt you pulled with the Heart of Earth, that's why! They're none too pleased, with you, Will! Join me, and we'll rule together! We'll stick it to those know-it-alls!"

"You're, you're insane!" choked Will.

"Everyone, let's hear it for Will Vandom, who is responsible for this brave, new world we all inhabit!" cheered Ozai. "Hip hip..."

"Hooray!" the group of people in the food court shouted.

Then President Ozai repeated his chant.

"Hip hip..." he began.

"Hooray!" the others finished.

They crowded around her, and Will saw the mob included, (besides Yan Lin, the geisha, and Ozai's guards, that is), the earth benders, water benders and fire benders she had seen on the street before. (And one teamaker, who she didn't recognize, but who was older and had a beard.)

"No!!" screamed Will, in anguish, fear and desperation. "I'll stop you!" she said, as she ran away.

"You can't stop it, Will! No one can!" yelled Ozai to the fleeing Energy Guardian.

"Hold. Let her go." said Ozai, putting his hand up to halt his guards' pursuit of the young girl. "She can't stop us now. And anyone who can, is being dealt with."

_...Well, I am the warrior_

_And heart to heart you'll win..._

11:35 AM, streets of Heatherfield

Running through the no longer familiar streets of Heatherfield, Will was unsure what to do.

Her friends had abandoned her once already! Could she trust any of them to help her? Certainly not Hay Lin!

Should she seek out the others?

If she could even find them, that is!

Most were somewhere in the ever-expanding crowd attending the Avatar's Concert! Which was a madhouse!

What would she do, anyway?

She didn't know exactly what Ozai planned, only that it involved Aang! And she couldn't get ahold of him!

The enormity of the task weighed on her.

Then she ran into a friend.

"Caleb!" she cried. "You'vegottahelpme! Ozai'splottingsomethingagainstAangbutIcan'tgetanyonetohelpme! AndHayLin'shelpinghim!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Will!" said the Meridian boy, he of the twinkling green eyes. "Drake told me you came to the embassy yesterday looking for Elyon. Now calm down, and tell me what's happening."

Will took a breath, and told Caleb everything much more slowly this time.

"Will, that sounds..." began Caleb.

"Crazy? I know!" finished Will. "But now that you're here, you can help me with Cornelia!" said the hopeful girl.

11: 42 AM, Aang's auto, near the entrance to the Avatar's Music Festival and Concert for the Air Temples

_Avatar Aang! _yelled a reporter, running alongside the car driven by Sokka. _Can you confirm reports that WMDs were used at the North Pole?_

"What??" said the confused Aang. "What are WMDs?"

_Avatar Aang, why has the Dept. of Agriculture impounded your sky bison? They say it's because it didn't have the required shots. _called out one reporter, chasing after Aang's car.

"Huh?" said Aang, nose pressed against the car window, as his motor vehicle pulled away from the reporters. "Appa's been impounded?? Katara, do you know anything about this?"

"I saw Appa early this morning! The volunteers were giving him a bath! I'm sure he's fine!" replied Katara.

"But..." said the very worried Aang.

"Alright, if it'll make you feel better, I'll call and check on Appa, okay?" offered the sweet-talking water bender.

"Thank you." said the relieved air bender.

Then the car stopped. In fact, all the traffic headed to the Avatar's music festival stopped.

"Sokka, why are we stopping?" inquired Aang.

"There's something happening up ahead. I don't know. Maybe they're checking for insurance, or seatbelts, or something. I heard this world does things like that." replied the weary Sokka.

"Oh." said Aang.

"What?? Why didn't you tell me??" said the mighty peeved Katara, talking on the phone, her voice rising.

"Yes, I understand you didn't want to worry us and thought you'd take care of it yourself, but you still should have told me, Valerie! No, I'm not yelling at you! I just..." said the flustered water bender.

"Katara? What's going on??" asked the concerned Avatar.

"It's nothing, Aang! There's just been a mixup with some paperwork of Appa's. Valerie's going to fix it, though, so..." began Katara.

Then there was a rapping on the car window.

"Sir?" said the uniformed officer. "If you could step out of the vehicle?"

11:48 AM, Cornelia's condo

"Cornelia?" called Will to her friend, still locked in her room. "Caleb's with me! You have to help us now! There's big trouble! So open this door, or..."

"Will?? And Caleb??" said the frantic Guardian of Earth. "No!! You can't come in here!"

"2, 1...!" shouted Will, as she and Caleb broke the door down.

What they saw was...unexpected, to say the least.

"No! Don't look at me!" cried out the young blonde girl, trying in vain to shield herself from them with her hands.

"Cornelia..You're..." gasped the stupefied Will.

Cornelia was stuck to the floor. Like a plant.

A mass of vines and flowers had erupted out of the floor and entwined their way around the Earth Guardian.

They held her close, and wouldn't let go.

It was hard to tell where the plants stopped and Cornelia began.

"..You're...a plant?" said the astonished Energy Guardian. "But how? This is, you're on the third floor!!"

"I don't know! They say things to me, like they're trying to help me! But they don't make any sense! And they won't let go!" said the frightened Cornelia.

Will immediately threw herself at the wild vines, but for every one she pulled away from her friend, three more grew in to replace it!

"Caleb!" yelled Will. "Help me!"

Caleb stared at the girl he thought he loved.

"You...you're a freak!!" he erupted, spewing anger at Cornelia. "How could I have loved you? We're nothing alike!"

"Caleb!! No!!" screamed Cornelia, her heart breaking.

"I have a new girlfriend now." cackled the Meridianite. "And she's perfect! Everything you're not!"

Then Azula appeared in the doorway, and fell into Caleb's arms.

"Ready to go, baby?" cooed Princess Azula.

"With you? Anywhere!" sweet-talked Caleb.

"Huh? Where did she come from?" said the confused Will, as the bizarre new couple exited.

"No. Oh no." babbled Cornelia, who couldn't take any more trauma. "I've lost everything. There's nothing left."

"Cornelia? We can fix this. We..." offered Will, not knowing what else to say.

But Cornelia didn't respond to her friend's words. Instead, the shell-shocked Cornelia Hale knelt down in the middle of the plant mass and succumbed to her fate as the plants totally surrounded the young girl.

"Cornelia? No!!" shouted Will.

_What just happened here? _thought Will.

Freaked beyond words, Will ran off.

_Cause, She's like so whatever_

_And you could do so much better_

_I think we should get together now_

_And that's what everyone's talking about!_

_Hey! Hey! You! You!_

_I don't like your girlfriend!_

_No way! No way!_

_I think you need a new one_

_Hey! Hey! You! You!_

_I could be your girlfriend_

_No way, no way!_

_Hey! Hey You! You!_

_I know that you like me_

_No way! No way!_

_No it's not a secret_

_Hey! Hey! You! You!_

_I want to be your girlfriend_

_No way! No way!_

_Hey! Hey! _

11:53 AM, Camp Victory, General's office

General Dickinson placed his golf club on his office putting green and imagined a much more glamorous setting.

"And now the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff approaches the 17th hole at the Congressional Golf Course with his golfing buddy Tiger." intoned the General. "Watch out for the sand bending trap, Tiger! Ha! Little military humor there! Heh! That line kills in Iraq!"

Then the phone rang.

"Gen. Dickinson's office, Military Police Command! You invade 'em, we parade 'em! Gen. Dickinson speaking!"

"Sir! It's Capt. Gray! The target is mobile! The men are...I don't know! We have to..!" he stammered.

"Whoa, hold on, Captain! Why don't you start at the beginning?" suggested the General.

"At the beginning? Are you sure, sir?" asked Capt. Gray.

"Yes! Now give me a full report!" ordered the General. "It was a simple arrest and detain op, after all!"

"Yes, but, we, ah, didn't get there first!" said Capt. Gray.

"What are you talking about?" barked Gen. Dickinson.

"When we got on the scene, ICE was making their own collar!" replied Capt. Gray.

"Immigration? What were they doing there?" bitched the General. "I've got a signoff from Homeland Security! Right here in my hand!" said the angry General, waving a piece of paper. "This was supposed to be our op!"

"Yes, well, sir, they were there!" said the Captain.

"Why would they want the boy, anyway? They'll be hearing from me!" complained the General.

"That's just it. They weren't there for the boy! They were there for the girl!" said Capt. Gray.

"What? Why would they want the water bender? That makes no sense!" sputtered the mad as heck Gen. Dickinson.

"No! Not the water bender! The other one!" said Capt. Gray. "The earth bender! Apparently she's a runaway, and her parents wanted her back, so they contacted ICE, and..."

_In a flashback, Toph, wearing headphones and sitting in her carseat, is taken unaware by the Immigration agents._

"Yes, yes! So? Why is that a problem?" continued the General.

"Because the boy had a...bad reaction when ICE took the earth bender girl into custody." explained Capt. Gray.

"You mean the Avatar attacked them? What's so bad about that? That's proof we were right, that he's unstable and dangerous!" said General Dickinson.

"No, not him! The other boy! The Water Tribe teen!" corrected Capt. Gray.

"Oh. So a kid acted up? I don't understand what the problem is, Captain!" stated the General. "It's not as if he has any bending ability!"

":No, but he had...a boomerang." said the Captain, who knew how his words sounded.

_Sokka, upset with the unjustified (to him) assault on Toph, attacked the feds._

"A boomerang. Right. Sigh." said the General. Sometimes it didn't pay to get out of bed, he thought.

"But he knew how to use it! He took down the ICE agents real quick! That kid knows how to fight! We moved in, to lend assistance, but..." began Capt. Gray.

"Yes?" said the annoyed General, who wanted the rest of the story.

"He wasn't a problem, but once he was down, the girl..." continued the Captain.

"The earth bender?" questioned the General.

"No. The other one. The water bender!" reported Capt. Gray. "She attacked my men with water thingies and ice! It was so fast, we just reacted!"

_Katara, seeing the odds stacked against her brother, came to his aid._

"You didn't!" said the horrified General. "You know what the psych profile said!"

"I know, General, I know. I'd take it back if I could!" said the remorseful Captain. "The men...tasered her."

"Oh, wonderful! A simple detain op, and you had to cock it up!" said the General. "So the Avatar resisted arrest and ran? Wonderful! There goes my Pentagon office!" he said, as he reached for the Tylenol. "And we had a nice cell all picked out for him in Gitmo, too! Sighhh."

"General, it's worse than that!" admitted Capt. Gray.

"What?? Well, why didn't you say so?" said the irked General.

"I tried! But you said you wanted a full report!" rationalized Capt. Gray.

"How bad is it?" asked Gen. Dickinson, holding his throbbing head.

_Aang, having just seen his 'family' torn apart and the one he loved most have all the life taken out of her...reacted. He reacted in the worst way possible!_

"Sir? Real bad!" answered Capt. Gray. "It's worse than we thought! The kid's a living WMD!"

"What?? You mean those stories about the North Pole were true??" said the worried General.

"Sir, we were lucky we were able to pull our injured and the detainees out of there when we did! But now the target has gone hot! None of our weapons has any effect! Request immediate assistance!" barked Capt. Gray. "He's...rampaging through Heatherfield!"

_"Run! Get out of here! I'll hold him off as long as I can!" yelled the soldier, as he sprayed bullets at the Avatar State Aang. "I'll...aghhh!!" he screamed, as Aang pulled the very street out from under his feet. _

_The other soldiers evacuated with their hostages by clambering over the boulders Aang had set in their path and reaching their helicopters._

"What? Call out the army! Wait, we are the army! Call out the Navy, Marines! No, the Air Force! Yeah, that's it! They'll settle his hash!"

"Yes, sir." replied the Captain.

"Whew!" said the perspiring General, mopping his brow as he plopped down into his chair. _Now how can I pin this fiasco on DHS and save my pension?_

12:00 PM, Heatherfield

Explosions drowned out the music, and smoke littered the landscape of the Avatar's Concert, one of the purposes of which was to help the environment.

People ran every which way. Even the celebrity musicians were caught up in the madness!

_We're here with Rono, lead singer of We3. Rono, what happened?_ said the reporter, crouching behind a sound truck.

_The Avatar went all Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man, right? _said Rono, as Aang in his Avatar State rampaged in the distance. _Oi think he's looking for something! Me, too!_

_What are you looking for?_ asked the TV reporter.

_Right now, I'd settle for cover, mate! _ said Rono, as a nearby car was taken by a hurricane-force wind, sailed into a tree, and exploded!

**BOOM**

_Oi knew we should we should have started the tour in Europe!_ said Rono's bandmate, Bevel.

_Oh, shut up, Bevel! _said the annoyed Rono.

_That was the scene at the Avatar's Concert mere moments ago! _said the news anchor.

"Oh no! Aang!! What did they do to you? I'm too late!" cried the distraught Will, as she watched the TV in the electronics shop window.

_Coming up: I'll have your full weekend forecast! _said the weatherman. _And did you know it's the first day of fall? The autumn equinox occurs at 12:30 PM!_

"What? Fall doesn't begin until 12:30??" said the stunned Energy Guardian. " I still have time!" she said, running towards the Concert. "I can do this!"

12:03 PM, Heatherfield

Running through Heatherfield on her way to the Concert, Will finally spotted someone who could help her.

"Nigel! Pant! I need your motor scooter!" Will gasped.

Nigel was with the other members of their band, Wreck55, but Matt wasn't with them.

_Where's Matt? _worried Will.

"Sure, Will, but..." began Nigel.

"It's an emergency!! Where's Matt?" exclaimed Will.

"He went to the Concert site a couple of hours ago to check the equipment! We were going to join him, but, the Concert kind of got canceled!" explained Nigel.

_Matt's caught up in this madness? _screamed Will's thoughts. _No!!_

"Will!" called out Nigel, as the lone Guardian rode off.

"Don't worry! I'll bring it back in one piece!" yelled Will. "I hope." she said, to herself.

"No!" shouted Nigel. "I wanted to tell you...the scooter's almost out of gas!"

Just then, the motor scooter gasped and sputtered to a stop.

_I do not need this! _ thought Will.

"I don't suppose you can help?" she asked the scooter.

"Hey, I'm just an electric starter! Not an engine! The name's Mike!" said the starter, which, for such a little thing, had plenty of attitude to spare! "What's your name, dollface?"

_I __so__ do not need this! _ thought Will. "Quintessence!" she intoned, sparks flying from her hand to the scooter.

Having brought the scooter 'to life', Will revved its Candracar-driven engine and sped off.

"Huh?" said the baffled Nigel.

"The scooter must have one of those fire bending attachments!" Will yelled to Nigel, thinking it's as good an excuse to use as any.

"Yeah? Cool! I didn't know it had that!" said the impressed Nigel.

"You can call me the Mechanic!" said Will to Mike the starter. "Because I'm going to fix this!"

"Yeah? Wow, you are good!" said Mike, noting the healthy sound the engine was making. "Can you do anything about my wires? I think they're getting a little frayed!"

12:05 PM, Delta Air Squadron on the way to Heatherfield

"Preparing to engage the enemy." said one pilot.

"Roger! Lock on target!" said another.

12:07 PM, Heatherfield

Will, speeding through town, spied another person she knew.

"Huh?" said Will, skidding to a stop. "Julian?"

_What's Caleb's father doing here? _she thought.

"Do you even know what your son has done?" said Will, accusingly.

"Eh? Will? What do you mean?" said the very confused man from Meridian. "The universe is at peace now. All is well."

"Does **that** look like all is well??" Will spat, pointing to the airplanes diving and shooting at the Avatar State Aang, off in the distance.

"But...I don't understand." said the man of another world.

"I don't have time for this!" said the abrupt Will, taking off like a rocket. "You can tell your son, next time I see him, I'll definitely give him more than a piece of my mind!"

12:10 PM, Heatherfield

Someone ran out into the street, causing Will to swerve into the side of the road to avoid her.

The potential victim, a girl, startled at the close call, fell to the ground.

"Hey! are you crazy! I could have...!" shouted Will, picking up the scooter.

Then she saw who it was.

"T, Taranee?" uttered the Guardian of Energy.

"Will?" said the young girl, getting up off the ground and putting her glasses back on.

"Taranee, you have to help me!" begged Will. "Ozai's planning to do something to Aang, and Aang's already gone nuts, but we can stop whatever he's got planned if we work together!"

"Me?? I'm no one special! You don't need my help!" said the depressed Fire Guardian, who looked down at her shoes so as not to meet Will's piercing gaze.

"What's the matter with you?" said Will, grabbing her friend at the shoulder and shaking her. "The Tara I know would never refuse to help a friend in need!"

Taranee looked up, and there was fire in her eyes. "You can't stop it, Will! You're doomed!"

Frightened at the change in her fellow Guardian, Will jumped back!

"Ah!" she exclaimed.

Recovering quickly, Will demanded to know "Who, who are you?? What have you done with Taranee??"

Then laughter filled the air!

_Ha ha ha ha ha_

Will looked around, to try and determine where the laughter was coming from, but couldn't pinpoint it.

When she looked back towards her friend, Taranee was gone!

_I am. Totally. Freaking. Out. _thought Will, as she took off on the motor scooter once more.

12:13 PM, Heatherfield

"Red Guardian! Wait!" said the little green creature standing in the road, waving his arms.

_What now?_ thought Will.

"What is it, Blunk? I'm in a hurry!" said the short-tempered Will Vandom, stopping for the Passling.

"Red Guardian in trouble!" said Blunk.

"Yeah, I know! That's why I'm trying to get to Aang!" replied the exasperated Will.

"No! Real trouble elsewhere!" said the frantic creature from Meridian.

"You mean Ozai? I can settle with him after Aang!" said Will.

"No! Even worse!" said Blunk.

"Like what? On second thought, don't tell me! Everyone's been trying to stop me from saving Aang, so I must be on the right track! Later!" said the determined Guardian of the Veil, waving bye to Blunk and roaring away on her motor scooter.

"But has everyone you talk to been real?" said Blunk, who then faded away. Or exited Heatherfield through a portal. Or something.

12:15 PM (Heatherfield time), NORAD Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

_DefCon2 has been achieved! _ said the PA System. _All units, prepare for further instructions._

12:15 PM, Heatherfield city limits

Zipping through a secluded park on the outskirts of Heatherfield, Will spotted another 'friend'.

Irma!

And she was with somebody!

"Having fun, Irms?" interrogated Will.

"Will! What's up?" said Irma, surprised to see Will there, and in such a state.

"What's up?? Have you not been paying any attention to the news? Or to the fighter planes buzzing the city?" said Will, who had just about had it with the way her supposed 'friends' all shirked their duty!

"Huh? I just thought it was part of the music festival!" said the innocent Irma Lair.

"Or you'd rather party with your friend what's his name!" said the agitated Will Vandom.

"Andrew Hornby." corrected Irma.

"Wait. You got...Andrew Hornby?" said the stunned Energy Guardian, taking another look at the boy with Irma. And it was. It was Andrew Hornby!

"Never mind!" said Will, regaining her anger. "Aang needs us, but you probably have better things to do!"

"Why? What's wrong with Aang?" asked Irma.

"Oh, nothing! He's just a big monster, that's all!" said Will, sarcastically. "And Corny's a plant, Taranee's a ghost, and Hay Lin's a pawn in Ozai's big bad plot to bring the air benders back! But don't you worry about it! I'll take care of it!"

"But, Will, that, that doesn't sound right!" said the mighty perplexed Water Guardian. "Things aren't supposed to be like that!"

"I knew it was too much to expect you to care! Why don't you go back to your new main squeeze, Irma?" said the furious Will, who then took off on her scooter at a high rate of speed.

"But, Will, I think I know what's going on!" said Irma, screaming to be heard above the sound of the scooter's motor, but failing to connect with her friend. "Will! Wait!"

"Damn!" cursed Irma, left to choke on Will's dust. "Hopefully, I can do this myself!"

"Uh uh, water girl!" said the voice, with a sneer. "You're not going anywhere!"

"Who?" said Irma, who then turned to see who had spoken to her.

"Azula!" spat Irma, biting her tongue in the process.

12:18 PM, outside the site of the Avatar's Concert

Navigating through the throngs of panicked festival goers, Will's heart leapt when she spotted someone very dear to her.

"Matt!" yelled Will.

"Will!" shouted her boyfriend.

"Oh, Matt! I was so worried!" said Will.

"I'm okay. The guys who really got it bad were Boyzilla! The Avatar scared them so bad, they're not going to be able to call themselves a boyband any more!" joked Matt.

"Huh?" said Will.

"Because they were scared so bad their hair turned white?" explained Matt.

"Oh." Will smiled. Matt really did tell the worse jokes ever! (So bad he had to explain them). She loved that about him.

"So what are you doing here? It can't be to find me!" said Matt.

"I have to help Aang, stop the villain's dastardly plot...standard hero stuff! That' s all!" replied the confident Will Vandom.

"Yeah? How about that Aang, huh? Talk about the Demon In Me!" said Matt, referencing his own song. "Need a hand?"

"No, no. I got it!" said Will.

"At least take this backstage pass!" offered Matt. "Then you won't have as many problems with security, if they're still there!"

"Thank you! That's so sweet!" cooed Will. "Wish me luck?" she said, leaning in to kiss him.

"Sure!" said Matt, eager to comply with a kiss for his sweetheart.

The kiss was unusually soulful.

It wasn't an ordinary kiss, Matt sensed.

When he opened his eyes, Will was already gone, her motor scooter racing towards the area where Avatar Aang was still running amuck.

"Will! Wait! That wasn't a 'good luck' kiss!" Matt called out to the keeper of his heart. "That was a 'goodbye' kiss!"

_Bye, Matt! _ thought Will, eyes forward, not daring to turn her head and look at him, lest her resolve weaken. _I love you!_

12:20 PM, Ozai's Tower

Ozai, along with some guards and Hay Lin, entered the elevator of his skyscraper that was under construction.

12:20 PM, Avatar's Festival grounds

The fighter jets had given up by this point. They couldn't stop Aang while he was in the Avatar State. With his power, and control over the air itself, the planes had no chance of staying aloft!

As the defeated pilots parachuted to the ground in the distance, with fires and exploding gas pipelines all around her, and Aang ripping the place apart, Will picked a spot where she could jump the scooter right into the heart of Aang's Avatar State! She had this crazy idea she could absorb the energy of the Avatar State and return Aang to normal.

_The Avatar's the master of all four elements and I'm kind of all four elements combined, so this should work...I hope. _ wished Will.

Gunning the motor for all it was worth, Will launched herself into space.

It was about this time Will wished she wasn't faking it during that training session with Aang, when she told him she could 'feel the energy flow' with his air bender moves!

_I can do this! _she told herself. _I'm the Four-in-One!_

Landing in the middle of Aang's huge form, Will discovered it wasn't energy at all, but was instead physical! It did feel familiar to her Candracar-derived energy, but there was no way for her to grab hold of it!

_Unhh! I feel like such a fool! _ thought the lone Guardian, as she bounced off Aang's transformed state and landed on the ground, the scooter falling behind her.

But she had succeeded in one respect...She got Aang to notice her!

_Now what do I do?_ thought Will. "Aang! It's me!" she said, waving her arms. "Will! The…"

**CRASH**

Went the structure in front of her, as Aang's lumbering form smashed it into toothpicks!

_Uh oh! _ thought the worried Will. _This doesn't look good!_

_Better…run! _ she told herself, as she took off on her scooter.

To Will's surprise, Aang pursued her.

"He's chasing me??" uttered Will. "Maybe...maybe I can lead him away from the crowd!" she hoped.

Attempting to halt her flight, Aang forced the water contained in the pipes underneath the street to break through their joints, rupturing water mains and flooding the street Will rode through. Tendrils of water snaked towards Will and sought to unseat her, but she battled through it and kept on going, not stopping for anything!

Then Aang changed tactics. Manhole covers popped like urban zits, as Aang used the force of the air trapped underground to send them flying like huge metal frisbees, and almost sliced the scooter in two!

_Whew! _ thought the young Guardian, looking back at the danger she had just eluded. _That was a close one! _

Then she peered ahead, to an even worse sight!

Aang had thrown up huge boulders to block her escape!

Will wheeled around each one, but then the very ground itself came alive as the earth in front of her rose up, becoming a giant mound of soil and dirt! Will couldn't avoid it, and rode the mound like a ramp into the sky!

After being airborne for a few seconds, Will touched down front wheel first, far away from Aang! Having shaken the mad Avatar (for the moment), she then raced off!

12:16 PM, outskirts of Heatherfield

"Azula, step aside!" Irma demanded.

"I don't think so!" said Azula, moving her hands to roll rings of fire out of them in attempt to intimidate Irma. "And you're not going anywhere, either!" commanded Azula, who then sent a ball of fire at Andrew Hornby.

"Yii!" yelled Andrew, ducking the flame.

"You know, your world is not so bad. There are so many interesting things to learn. For instance, have you read Sun Tzu's _The Art of War_? No, you probably haven't, being an ignorant peasant. But it's very instructive. Well, not the moral part, but the rest of it." rambled Azula, who knew she had a captive audience. "He said 'There is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare.' My father understood that. That's why the war ended when it did. And NOT because of you and your friends!" Azula smiled, twisting the dagger ever so slowly.

"I don't care about your crazy philosophy, Azula! Now get out of my way!" cried Irma Lair.

"Or you'll do what?" gloated Azula. "Sun Tzu said other things, more pertinent to your situation. He was very big on choosing the circumstances of battle."

"So?" snapped Irma.

"So, do you see any water around, water bender?" teased Azula, who had now changed to bending lightning from her hands to hold Irma at bay.

12:23 PM, Ozai's Tower

Having exited the elevator, Ozai escorted the downtrodden Hay Lin to her position on the roof of his under construction skyscraper (the highest point in Heatherfield) for his special 'topping off' ceremony.

12:23 PM, Heatherfield Amusement Park

Having left the Fairgrounds, site of the Avatar's Concert, the scooter-riding Will Vandom approached the nearby amusement park, where she saw someone else she knew.

"Officer Lair!" called out Will. "What are you doing here? Why haven't you and your men evacuated?"

"There's still some people in the park!" replied the police officer. "Run!" he said, after spotting Aang in hot pursuit. "We'll try and keep him away from you and the others!"

**Bang Bang!**

Went their puny guns. Like trying to stop an avalanche with a snow fence.

12:25 PM, Ozai's Tower

Ozai led Hay Lin to a 15-foot diameter metal ring in the center of the roof, and began strapping her in.

She tried to suppress her tears, but failed, and the waterworks began.

"Don't worry, my dear." said Ozai, in a tone that did nothing to comfort the Air Guardian. "It'll all be over before you know it!"

12:25 PM, Heatherfield Amusement Park

Roaring through the near-deserted amusement park, Will saw there were still some people by the Ferris wheel.

"Why are you still here??" cried Will. "You have to get out! Now!"

"Have a little problem." said the ride operator. "Got people trapped on the Ferris wheel." he said, motioning upwards.

"How long are we gonna be up here?' cried the teenager stuck on the Ferris wheel.

_I know that voice! _ thought Will.

"Uriah? Is that you?" asked Will.

"Huh? Irma's little friend? Hey, guys, it's Will from school!" said Uriah, to the other trapped passengers. Each was in a separate carriage, sitting next to somebody else.

"And Kurt? And Laurent?" quizzed Will. "Who else is up there with you?" said Will, peering skyward.

"Our dates! They're visiting from Kyoshi!" beamed Uriah.

"You have dates??" said the skeptical Will.

"Yes! Why is that so hard to believe?" said the offended Uriah. "Me, Kurt and Laurent are excellent benders, after all!" he shouted. Then admitted, in a much lower volume, "Although our bending doesn't do us any good stuck way up here."

"Yeah! That's why we're K.U.L.!" said Kurt.

"What?" replied Will.

"Our initials! Duh!" said Laurent.

"Yeah, that's great guys, but..." began Will.

"Our dates think so!" said the abrupt Uriah. "Kurt's with Mizuki, Laurent's with Yume, and I'm with S-"

"Okay, look, you have dates! Good for you! But we have to get you down, and quick! Aang's coming, and he's not happy!" said the harried Energy Guardian.

Turning to the operator of the Ferris wheel and his mechanic, Will asked "You can get them down right?"

"Don't know. It's weird. The thing just stopped working!" said the sheepish park employee. "Never seen anything like it!"

Then Will had a flash of insight.

_A Ferris wheel? Hold on, Ozai said he couldn't pull off his scheme without Phobos' s help! And Phobos built that giant wheel thing to transport his army to Candracar! _Will realized. _It, it focused and increased his power! And there are benders on the Ferris wheel! He's...Ozai is going to use the Ferris wheel to drain Aang's energy! That's how he's going to pull off his Air Nomads plot!_

"If I can fix the Ferris wheel, will you do me a favor?" asked Will.

"Kid, if you can fix it, I'll give ya anything you want!" replied the ride operator.

12:17 PM, outskirts of Heatherfield

"You're a water bender, Irma?" asked Andrew Hornby.

"Never mind!" declared Irma. "And I may not know much about this Sun Zooey guy, Azula, being an 'ignorant peasant', but I do know Ben Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm!"

"What are you babbling about now?" said the amused Princess Azula, lightning crackling from her fingertips.

"Electricity." stated the very serious Irma Lair.

"Electricity? I know about electricity!" said the annoyed Princess. "As I said, I've been learning a lot about your world!"

"And do you know what happens when water and electricity mix?" dared Irma.

"What? What are you talking about?" said the confused Azula. "There isn't any water...wait, what, what's going on??" said the Princess, who knew fear for probably the first time in her life.

Irma was using her power to condense water anywhere to put the usually life-giving liquid directly into the joints and muscle tissue Azula used to bend lightning, creating a path between them and the rest of her body.

"It's called a short circuit, bitch!" Irma yelled.

**ZAPT**

"Ahhhhh!!" screamed the electrocuted Princess, who fell to the ground unconscious.

"And I'm not a water bender, Andrew!" exclaimed Irma. "Now, it's been fun, but I have to go! If I'm not too late!" she said, as she ran off.

12:27 PM, Heatherfield Amusement Park

As Will helped Laurent and his 'date', the last of the stranded Ferris wheel riders, off of their carriage, she said "Better hurry and get out of here! I have a feeling the park's about to close for good! Good luck!" And then added, in a voice she alone could hear, "You girls are going to need it."

"Hey yeah! That's us! Luck!" said Uriah.

"Huh?" said Will.

"L-U-K! Luck!" said the cheery water bender.

"Yeah, great! Another acronym team! Now vamoose!" urged Will.

"Kid, how'd you do that?" asked the Ferris wheel operator. "How'd you fix the wheel?"

"Trade secret!" answered the Guardian of Energy. _And a little Quintessence!_ she thought.

"Now you have to help me! I'm going to ride the Ferris wheel to the top, then you're going to turn it off and go!" stated Will.

"What the?" said the park attendant.

"You said anything!" countered the resourceful Guardian.

"Huh! It's your funeral, kid!" said the sullen carny.

"Kind of hoping not." said the deadpan girl.

_Sleight of hand and twist of fate_

_On a bed of nails she makes me wait_

_And I wait without you..._

12:28 PM, Ozai's Tower

As Ozai finished securing Hay Lin to the giant circular ring on top his tower, he gazed at the sunny sky.

"Ah! What a bright, beautiful summers' day!" he crowed. "And it's about to get a lot brighter!"

_Through the storm we reach the shore_

_You give it all but I want more_

_And I'm waiting for you..._

12:28 PM, Heatherfield, on the road leading out of town

"Zuko!!" screamed the young girl. "Thank God I found you! You have to stop this! It wasn't supposed to be like this!"

"What are you talking about?" said the perplexed young Prince.

"This!" exclaimed the girl, who then tore Zuko's shirt open, revealing the Heart of Candracar hanging about his neck.

_And you give yourself away_

_And you give yourself away_

_And you give_

_And you give_

_And you give yourself away_

12:28 PM, Heatherfield Amusement Park

At the top of the Ferris wheel, Will looked out and saw Aang coming in the distance.

_Almost here! _Will thought. _And right on time!_

"Go! Now!" Will urged the park employees.

"But what about you?" one asked her.

"I'll be okay!" Will insisted. "I've got it all figured out!"

Will reasoned that Aang's 'monster form' (Avatar State) was scheduled to implode at 12:30 PM, and then Ozai was going to use the power of the water, earth and fire benders trapped on the Ferris wheel to transfer Aang's air bender energy to the whole world, sacrificing Aang in the process. But, with Will now on the wheel, she could probably absorb the energy and return it to Aang, saving his life and wrecking Ozai's plans. Probably. It was worth a shot, anyway! What did she have to lose by trying?

_My hands are tied_

_My body bruised, she's got me with_

_Nothing to win and_

_Nothing left to lose_

12:29:00 PM, Ozai's Tower

With his plans finally coming to fruition, the former Fire Lord (and soon to be Supreme Ruler of the Fire Nation, and so much more!), prepared to bask in the glow of a new day a-dawning.

Meanwhile, Hay Lin closed her eyes and uttered a silent prayer.

12:29:15 PM, Heatherfield

Stunned, Zuko and his companions, Shen and Iroh, could only stare at the glowing jewel hanging from the young Prince's neck.

"Don't worry." insisted Irma Lair, Guardian of Water. "I can't take it from you! Part of the 'rules'! But you have to stop all of this! It's totally out of control!"

"I...what do you mean, it's out of control?" asked the puzzled Prince. "And what do I have to do with it?"

"Don't listen to her, Prince Zuko! She and her friends are no friends of yours!" said the elderly gentleman.

"Quiet, old man! This is serious!" yelled Irma.

"Hey! You can't talk to my Uncle like that!" said the angry Prince Zuko.

"But he's not...! We don't have time for this!" said the frantic young Guardian.

_And you give_

_And you give_

_And you give yourself away_

12:29:30 PM, Heatherfield Amusement Park

As Aang bore down on Will's Ferris wheel, blazing a path of destruction through the place that once gave joy to so many, Will thought the nightmare would soon be over, and she and her Guardian friends could get on with their lives (not to mention their friendships!), and forget all the craziness that marked so much of their recent past.

Then Will heard a whining sound, and looked up.

It was a bomb!

In a flash, Will knew what it must be!

A nuke!

Aang wasn't going to implode all by himself!

They were going to blow him up! That's what Ozai meant when he said the government was helping him!

And what could she do about it?

But...she was the Guardian of Energy, right?

Theoretically, she could even absorb that bomb, right?

I mean, she did pretty okay in Avatar Town when she blew herself up, right?

It could have been worse! But she contained it!

Right?

So, theoretically...

As the bomb whistled ever closer, and Aang approached the Ferris wheel (and his reckoning), Will consoled herself with these thoughts.

_With or without you_

12:29:45 PM, Heatherfield

Faced with a hostile crowd of three members of the Fire Nation, Irma was forced to act!

_I hate this! _she thought, as she split water on the ground in front of Shen, causing him to fall.

Then, with another quick movement, she took out the Dragon of the West with a water whip!

Leaping in front of Prince Zuko, she grabbed him by the collar!

"Hey! You can't...!" barked the Prince.

"Zuko! Listen to me! This isn't real!" begged Irma. "Well, it is, in that people can get hurt, but..."

"Get off me!" yelled Zuko, pushing Irma away. "You're insane!"

12:29:55 PM, Heatherfield Amusement Park

As the bomb zoomed towards her and Aang at supersonic speeds, Will, though not a diver, used her knowledge of swimming to assume the form and...made one last leap of faith, jumping off the Ferris wheel in order to reach Aang before the missile hit.

_If I can absorb the energy of the bomb before it affects Aang... _she hoped, as she fell towards her fate.

_I can't live_

_With or without you_

12:29:58 PM, Heatherfield

_I just know I'm going to regret this! _thought Irma Lair.

"Wake up!!" Irma screamed at Prince Zuko, both with her voice and with her mind, summoning her power of suggestion to amplify the command in the strongest way possible!

As the sun crossed the celestial equator, signaling the end of summer and the start of fall, the thermonuclear bomb detonated, it's fission reaction sparking a fusion reaction, mimicking the internal processes of the sun and heralding Ozai's plan for an eternal summer of Fire Bender rule.

It seemed as if time stood still.

Will Vandom, in mid-dive in the air above Aang, had always followed her heart, but now, abandoned by her friends, allowed her pride to lead her around.

Taranee Cook, at home, bemoaned the loss of her specialness, but forgot there was nothing as special as the bond she shared with her friends.

Cornelia Hale, in the midst of a mass of plants and emotionally devastated, withdrew once more from the world.

Hay Lin, on 'top of the world' but far from free, to whom family meant everything and for whom she would sacrifice all, wondered where that left her.

And Irma Lair, in mid-scream, who had only wanted a simple life but was thwarted at every turn, gave voice to all the frustration and heartache she had experienced thus far.

Then…

…The world went white.

Again.

_People all around you, they don't really know,_

_Everybody's watching like it's some kind of show,_

_Everybody's watching, they don't really know you now,_

_And forever,_

_Wake up! Wake up!_

_Wake up! Wake up!_

_On a Saturday night_

_Next:_

_Some questions are answered, but new mysteries unfold!_

_As the girls get closer to the truth_

_(the real reason they're on Aang's world),_

_they're gonna wish they had stayed in the Dream World!_

_Plus:_

_A special guest meets up with the Guardians and Aang for the first time in this titanic tale!_

Notes

Yeah, that's right!

They were in a dream world! (Dream worlds appeared in _E is for Enemy _and _Z is for Zenith_).

I'd like to thank the Academy, and…

Seriously, none of this was in the original plot outline. It's like a book within a book, or a movie within a movie.

When I first thought of a sequel to _W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar_, I briefly considered _Avatar in the World of W.I.T.C.H. _Then I rejected it. What would it be, other than a sequel combined with a fish out of water story? It didn't grab me. I didn't see it going anywhere. The main problem being that the Guardians don't operate in their world. All of their action takes place on Meridian or Zamballah or somewhere like that. So how could Aang operate on their Earth, when the Guardians couldn't? It didn't make any sense. That was one of the better parts of _W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar_, that the girls could be their Guardian selves on an Earth-like world. Then, much later, I thought of these two chapters. And, as I developed it, man, did it grab me! It just got better and better!

Clues that what happened wasn't 'real' (although it was real in the sense that, if something had happened to them in the dream world, they would have been affected in the real world): Mrs. Rudolph is retired, and doesn't teach anymore. Alchemy and the Grumpers' song, 'I'm Somebody Too', was an original tune from an unsigned band, so it wouldn't be on the radio. Music also played during the Guardians' dream when they were psychically attacked by Nerissa in _E is for Enemy._ And Iroh, Zuko and Katara were never in the same place at the same time at the North Pole, so Iroh could never have seen Prince Zuko ogling Katara. Plus, notice Will was woken up, first by a mechanical clock, then later by her mom, and not an electrical alarm clock, because that would have to 'talk' when Will was still asleep. In the real world, electrical devices have a degree of sentience and a life separate from Will; in the dream world they have to be in her active presence to be 'alive'. There are more clues. Will's ordeal is particularly nightmarish. Kind of reminded me of paranoid films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or They Live (the one with the aliens and the wrestler).

This may or may not be the future for the Guardians and Aang. That is, it's a possible future. If they make some wrong choices in the future or bad battle decisions, Phobos could conceivably threaten two worlds with destruction, leaving our heroes with very few options.

There won't be any more dream worlds. Promise.

I really wanted a 'Dream World' episode in the second season of W.I.T.C.H. Imagine if the girls woke up one day and they were all working for Nerissa? How do they regain their minds and their freedom? That would have been a lot of fun! But it didn't happen. (It could have been done in one episode, too. It wouldn't have hijacked the season's plot).

There's a way to explain these two chapters without resorting to a dream world scenario, but that's even _more_ complicated and messy. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

The autumnal equinox is the date when the Sun crosses the celestial equator and marks the first day of the season of Autumn. Autumn being, of course, the season of the Air Nomads.

In 2004, in the eastern time zone in North America, the autumnal equinox occurred at 12:30 PM on September 22 (according the U.S. Naval Observatory). Heatherfield is most likely somewhere on the east coast, although it's never specified. But September 22, 2004 wasn't on a Saturday. (Sept. 22 falls on a Saturday in 2007, but the autumnal equinox in 2007 occurs on Sept. 23).

The fire bending to power a cellphone, PDA or laptop assumes that the heat generated initiates some chemical reaction that powers a battery (which would be impractical in our world because the energy required to make the heat would be more than the energy stored in the battery, but which is possible with a limitless power source, like fire bending). If this explanation doesn't fly with some engineer out there, an alternate theory is that the Blackfire port changes fire bending to its cousin, lightning bending, which is electricity. But don't get hung up on the fire bending to power batteries thing; it's supposed to be more symbolic than anything else.

The rapid fall in the price of oil is due to fire bending at power plants and major industrial facilities across the country, which would greatly decrease our demand for oil in the short term. (And, of course, there are all the people using fire bending to cook food, instead of using oil, natural gas, or electricity, which would also decrease demand, although not as much as the large industrial uses). Fire bending-powered batteries are very new (and in the case of auto batteries don't yet exist), but the financial markets are always quicker to react to changes, and anticipate change long before the change actually occurs. The Pontiac Fuego hybrid is a hybrid fire bender battery/conventional battery auto. It wouldn't use gasoline at all, so no chance for some fun explosions. Shucks. (Unless some dumb fire bender mistook a gas-powered car for a fire bending-powered car, I guess).

"Watery tart" is a famous line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's what a peasant calls The Lady Of The Lake, after Arthur claims kingship due to receiving his enchanted sword, Excalibur, from said Lady.

'Ozai' doesn't mention The Day Of Black Sun because Will doesn't know anything about it. And it's superfluous for the purposes of the story (the two worlds were combined in late May or early June, long before the Summer Solstice and the Day of Black Sun, so those days aren't special or exceptional in this story). Summer is the season of fire benders, and Ozai tries to extend that indefinitely.

I think Toph in a carseat is funny. Being new, Aang and his friends would try to follow all the rules, and some government guidelines state that those of a certain height should be in carseats. Most everyone here thinks only babies and very young children should be in carseats, but Aang and them wouldn't know that. Also, Toph is probably a little afraid of cars, so that's why she uses it. They would think of it as more of a saddle, anyway. But it's still funny to imagine.

Lyrics of the music Toph is listening to are from _Wish Upon A Dog Star_, by Perry Farrell's Satellite (Toph, the earth bender, listens to modern rock). I needed some new music to balance the old stuff and picked it from a list. I never heard it before, but the lyrics fit.

The shock jock bit goes beyond network standards, but I'm kind of doing the Hollywood movie version of W.I.T.C.H. in this chapter. And Hollywood movie versions of kids' TV shows or comic books always have one or two dirty jokes. To give the parents something, I guess. My double entendres are a lot better than the degrading treatment of Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four! In each movie of the FF, for some reason they have to humiliate the Invisible Woman by making her naked! (Which I don't think has ever happened in the comic!) Why not a joke about how 'fantastic' Mr. Fantastic is? They have 'relations' when he's in one room, and she's in the other, see, and…You get the idea.

I know Elyon came back, and claimed to be on vacation. Then later, she 'moved' out of Heatherfield. But I imagine that when people checked out her story, nothing added up. So most consider her disappearance to be mysterious (but not criminal). And no one knows Elyon is the Queen of Meridian (one of the benefits of her magical powers). Also, no one knows who the Guardians are, except those they've dealt with personally, like Ozai.

Cornelia's plight is based on events in the TV series and my own work. There'll be more of an explanation in the next chapter.

Can't you picture Azula singing Avril Lavigne's _Girlfriend_? The perfect song for her, in this scenario. What a thoroughly evil girl! And it makes what happens later so...satisfying. When Irma electrocutes Azula and calls her a bitch, I wanted everyone to stand up and cheer!

Why is Aang treated like a freak by the people of our world? Aang already stands out in his own world. That effect would be even more pronounced on our world. Aang would be the ultimate outsider, as he's so different from everybody else.

The military is arresting Aang for lying on his application to enter the country (he didn't tell them about his Avatar State). They don't have anywhere safe to put him (the Avatar State worries the government), so they're making a cell for him in Gitmo. Some in the government would like to examine Aang and his powers, but their main concern is safety. Also, the protest would be so loud against this action that Aang's detention wouldn't last long. Especially since Katara can get on the phone to Aang's friends in the Earth Kingdom, like King Bumi, who would offer Aang asylum. But Ozai doesn't care about detaining Aang. He told the U.S. government about Aang's Avatar State to further his own plans.

Why is the General so eager to believe Aang is 'unstable and dangerous', justifying a cell in Gitmo, and then express disbelief at the stories about the North Pole? It seems inconsistent, but in reality the military needs an Enemy to justify the hundreds of billions spent every year on them. But they don't want a _real_ Enemy (someone who will fight them). For 40 years during the Cold War, they were saying the Soviets were going to invade Europe/bomb the U.S./etc. Then we learned the Red Army was not all that.

Bevel? As in 'beveled _edge_'? I crack me up.

Putting Julian in there ratchets up the psychic pain for Will, and lets her present Aang's predicament.

He also appears because, later on, I may introduce someone else into the tale, and I wanted to set that up. Haven't decided yet if this unnamed person will show up, though.

Remember how in the previous chapter, Napoleon the cat was normal because Lillian, as the Heart of Earth, was used to bring the worlds of Aang and the Guardians together (which meant she had her full power back)? That means Matt isn't Shagon anymore.

The use of nuclear weapons is authorized at DefCon1, which must have happened between 12:15 & 12:29 PM.

Why is Aang on a rampage? Well, everyone he loves has been taken from him (he is kind of looking for them, rampage or no), and he feels everyone else is against him, including Will (Aang did have that darkly prophetic dream about the Guardians). So sure, he lashes out. And he's not really himself, is he? Plus, there's no one to 'talk him down'. Not to mention the fact it's a dream/nightmare.

You can tell it's summer blockbuster season. Transformers, Fantastic Four, Pirates, Die Hard, Will taking on the Avatar State Aang all by herself, with just a motor scooter (Action Hero Will!) It's fun.

Will doesn't try to zap Aang with her powers because she's trying to help him, not hurt him (also, as big as he is, she figures it wouldn't do any good).

The three girls from Kyoshi with Uriah, Kurt and Laurent are NOT the Kyoshi Warriors! (Had you going there, didn't I?) Please put down the sharpened implements. Thank you.

Mizuki means beautiful moon. Yume, according to one source, means dream.

In the comics, Heatherfield's amusement park is called The Carnival of Heatherfield, and it's a closed, abandoned, sinister place.

Sun Tzu said a lot of very wise things. Here's some more (comments in parentheses): The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans (Ozai tries this); the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces (and this); the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field (Duh!); and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities (Iroh could have really used Sun's book, huh?).

He said more, which could be applied to many heroic tales, or even politics: If fighting is sure to result in victory,

then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding. (Hello, George W! Are you listening?)

Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve. (Harsh but true.)

Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground. On desperate ground, fight. (That's the choice Azula gave Irma. Sun Tzu also said 'When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.' Looks like Azula needs to go back to school!)

"If we know anything, it's that Zuko never gives up!" - Sokka, Siege of the North, Part 2.

So why does Zuko give up in the Dream World?

Something to ponder, while you await the next chapter.


	46. Will To Believe

**Author's Note: This chapter is a little talky, but there's a lot to say. And it gets much better as it goes on!**

Chapter 30: Will To Believe

_All warfare is based on deception._

- Sun Tzu, _The Art of War_

"_Oh, what a world! What a world!" cried the Wicked Witch of the West, after Dorothy accidentally doused her with water trying to put out the Scarecrow's flames, but which had the unintended effect of melting her._

- Film version of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz

_Wake up! Wake up!_

"Ohhhhh" moaned Will, lying on the ground and cradling her head in her hands. "What a dream!"

"You think _you_ had a weird dream? I dreamed we were all back in Heatherfield, and Aang and his group were there, too, but we weren't friends anymore and a bomb was going to blow everything up!" cried Hay Lin, as she rose up from the floor of the shattered Tomb of Quo Jin.

"That was the same dream I had!" exclaimed Taranee, who had also just woken up.

"We all had the same dream??" questioned the roused Cornelia, who then noticed she couldn't stand up.

Because plants were wrapped around her legs!

"That was real?" she uttered. "Uh, guys, a little help here!" she pleaded, as the vines were wrapped tight.

While Will and Taranee pitched in to free Cornelia, Hay Lin made another observation.

"Did anyone else hear Hilary Duff right before we woke up?" asked the Air Guardian.

"Yeah. How about that!" said the innocent Irma, who had all of Hilary's recordings. "Pretty weird, huh?"

"It's more than weird!" commented Taranee. "We've been caught in each other's dreams before! And if we had kicked the bucket in our dreams, that would have been it for us!"

"What the heck happened??" wondered the Energy Guardian. "The last thing I remember is...fighting Zuko. I was trying to remove the part of the Heart that opens portals."

"And I was trying to stop Zuko!" said the Water Guardian. "I think he did something to us!"

"I think you're right." agreed Will. "I felt a portal or something open up in the Heart before I woke up in Heatherfield!"

"Zuko must have transported all of us to that Dream World!" reasoned the Fire Guardian.

"But why would he do that?" inquired Hay Lin. "It makes no sense!"

"It makes perfect sense!" countered Irma. "He was about to lose! I totally had his number!" she bragged.

"So Zuko was desperate to get rid of us?" pondered Taranee. "That sort of fits."

"Plus, he doesn't know what the heck he's doing with the Heart!" complained Will. "He probably didn't even know he was creating a Dream World!"

"But how could he make it seem so real?" said the puzzled Guardian of Fire. "He's never been to our world! Unless..."

"Don't keep us in suspense, Taranee!" said Cornelia, who was still picking plants out of her boots.

"If he possessed all of the powers of the Heart, he could have used the telepathy that lets us all communicate with each other to drag the details out of our heads!" speculated Taranee.

"But he never used a power before without someone showing him how!" declared Will.

"Ulp!" choked Irma. "I think that's my fault, guys! When I was trying to get him to stop, I used my power of suggestion on him! But his mind was too strong! That must be how he learned mind powers!" said the embarrassed Guardian of Water.

"Maybe." said Taranee, mulling it over. "But something doesn't add up."

"I'll tell you what doesn't add up!" stormed the Earth Guardian! "If Zuko wanted a fight, why didn't he just come right at us, instead of torturing us with plants and stealing our boyfriend?"

"Yeah, you're right! That's...bizarre!" said Will.

"Maybe not!" pointed out Taranee. "We were each targeted...based on our fears!"

"Huh?" said Irma.

"Remember after we defeated Phobos that first time? I said I was afraid of fading into the background, of becoming anonymous Taranee." elaborated the Fire Guardian. "And that fear prevented me from acting in the Dream World. And didn't you say you feared losing control of your power, Will?"

"Yeah! And everything almost blew up!" concurred Will Vandom. "Plus, when we first got together, I was afraid you guys wouldn't like me and would stop being my friend. But I haven't felt that way in a long time!"

"Maybe you have something with this fear theory." said Hay Lin. "I wondered once if being a Guardian is really for me, or is it something I do just because Grandma did it. But I would never desert any of you!" she emphatically stated.

"We know, Hay Hay, but you did worry about it at one time!" clarified Taranee. "And that small fear was taken and expanded upon, so you weren't where you needed to be!"

"And when we first became Guardians, I worried that these earth powers would change me, and come between me and the people I love." said the introspective Cornelia Hale. "If I didn't have you guys around, acting like having Guardian powers is the most normal thing in the world…I don't think I could have ever done any of this."

"I never knew that." said Irma.

"Because I never told you." replied Cornelia.

_Hold on! _ thought Irma. _Corny isn't perfect? And she admits it??_

"But all that went away, as time passed." continued the Earth Guardian. "Then, Lillian was made the Heart of Earth, and all those old fears came back."

"And because you felt those fears so strongly, it had an even bigger effect on you!" surmised Taranee.

"But what about Irma? Why didn't fear affect her?" asked Hay Lin.

"Er, well, you see..." said the anxious Irma, about to confess.

"Probably because she was right on top of Zuko when he did it!" explained Taranee. "And thank God, too, or we'd all be goners!"

"Yeah! Good job, Irma!" congratulated Cornelia.

"Oh, it wasn't anything any of you wouldn't have done!" said the modest Irma Lair, bowing for applause.

Irma didn't want to tell them the truth. That her fears were realized, too. Except that her fears were a little bit different than her friends' fears. She didn't like having to be a Guardian. Oh, she didn't mind it, most of the time, but she'd prefer not to. And that itty bitty fear was increased to the point that Irma had to act! If Zuko only knew his stupid plan backfired! But then, from what she knew of him, the guy was nothing but a big loser!

However, much worse than telling her friends she didn't want to be a Guardian and breaking up the team, was that she blamed herself for what happened! She remembers how Zuko pulled the memories of Heatherfield out of her head! Once in the Dream World, though, she forget that. She knew something was wrong, like Will said, but she was enjoying herself way too much to look into it!

If she had figured it out sooner, she could have spared her friends a lot of pain. But she couldn't tell them that.

"But why would Zuko use our fears against us, then take a back seat to the action? How strange is that?" wondered Hay Lin.

"It's mega strange!" added Taranee. "But there it is!"

"Maybe not so strange." said the Guardians' leader, Will Vandom. "At one point, I sensed another presence in there with us!"

"Who, Will?" asked Cornelia.

"I think you know who! The person responsible for this whole mess in the first place!" stated Will.

"You mean Phobos? But how?" wondered Hay Lin.

"I don't know how, but a lot of strange things happened in that Dream Dimension!" said Will, who tried to keep any trace of fear from seeping into her voice, but wasn't entirely successful.

"You know what I think how we got trapped in that Dream place?" offered Irma. "I think Zuko hated his life so much he'd do anything to escape it! So he built a whole new life for himself, and used our memories as the way to do it"

"Irma! Are you going soft for Zuko?" giggled Hay Lin.

"No! What are you talking about? Of course not!" denied the Water Guardian. "I'm just saying, he seemed like a guy trying to run away from his life. How would you feel if your father beat you up, scarring you, and then threw you out of your home?"

"Yeah, we get it, have pity for the sad bad guy!" commented the terse Cornelia. "We're all good girls, so we understand sympathy!"

"Empathy." corrected Taranee Cook.

"Whatever!" Cornelia spat out the words, her distaste for the teen Prince, whom she blamed for her ordeal in the Dream World, plain to all. "But he's still going down the next time we see him! Going down hard!!"

"But what happened to Aang and his friends?" said Will. "I got the feeling they were in the dream with us, although it's odd Zuko didn't do anything against them! Although maybe not so odd, if Irma is right."

"I think having all my friends captured and me losing control of my Avatar State counts as doing something to us!" said the angry Avatar.

"Aang! Katara! Sokka! Toph!" greeted the surprised Will. "Where were you guys?"

"When we woke up, we heard all of you talking, but apparently we had been sleeping next to Appa and Momo, who were watching over us the entire time, and..." explained the Water Tribe girl.

"You mean?" asked Taranee.

"Yep!" snapped Sokka. "We had a LOT of cleaning up to do!"

"Yeee!" said Taranee, getting the skeevies.

"Hey, it wasn't as bad as Omashu's sewers!" deadpanned Sokka.

"Yeah, that's fascinating, but, Aang, that huge thing you changed into? That was real??" asked the surprised Energy Guardian.

Aang sighed, looked down at the ground, and shuffled his feet nervously.

"Aang's Avatar State has all the knowledge and skills of past Avatars. It's a defense mechanism that only happens when Aang is in trouble, but he hasn't mastered all four elements yet, so he can't control it." said Katara, humbly answering Will's question.

"And I thought I had problems with my powers!" said the shamed Guardian leader. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Aang!"

"That was what your world is like??" said the shaken Avatar. "That place is insane! Do you really have a weapon that can destroy everything??" he said, speaking of the nuke that almost ended all of their lives. "And I thought the Fire Nation was bad!"

"Welcome to my world!" joked Irma.

Who then added, in a much lower and more serious voice "Oh, wait. I already did." and hoped no one heard her.

"You mean none of that was real?" asked Toph. "It was all a crazy dream?"

"I'm afraid so, Toph." replied Will.

"But I...I kind of liked it." said the sad earth bender, recalling all that she learned about life as a blind girl in the modern world.

"Me too, Toph." said Irma Lair, placing her hand upon the young Earth Kingdom girl's shoulder. "Me too."

"I was going to learn to read!" roared the now angry Toph. "Me! A blind girl! Do you know what that's like??"

"I'm sorry, Toph. Really." commiserated Will.

"Who could be so cruel and heartless?" wondered the shattered Toph, tears flowing. "To give me that, that hope, and then take it all away?"

"I think we know who!" said the mad as heck Cornelia Hale.

"Speaking of Zuko, where in blazes is he, anyway?" added Taranee, looking around the Tomb of Quo Jin, littered as it was with acres of broken Terracotta Warriors.

"Noooo!! Shen!!" screamed the distant voice that could only belong to the Fire Nation Prince.

"It's Zuko!" yelled Will.

"Uh oh!" cracked Irma. "That doesn't sound good!"

Rushing to Zuko's location, the Guardians and Aang's crew found him kneeling over the still, lifeless body of his friend, broken when his balloon crashed in the rubble of the Tomb.

"Zuko, maybe I can help him!" offered the kind Katara. "I'm a healer, and..."

"No!!" yelled Zuko, in more pain than ever. "This is all your fault! All of you!!"

And with that cold statement, the enraged Prince Zuko took the awesome power of Candracar from the Heart and used it to fell all of them!

Down they went!

As the bodies of Will, Taranee, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Irma, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph lay unmoving upon the cold, hard ground, Zuko realized what he did.

"No, I...I didn't mean for that to happen! I..." said Zuko, the words stumbling out of his mouth.

"Zuko!" said the old man's voice, familiar but for the angry tone, which the Prince had rarely heard.

"Uncle?" said the confused Zuko. "But, how?"

"I went to warn your father a demon was loose on our world, but the demon captured me instead!" explained Uncle Iroh. "When I learned he was after you, I knew I had to escape to warn you! And I find this? What have you done, Prince Zuko??"

"It's not me!" rationalized Zuko, searching for an excuse. "It's this Heart thing! It did this!"

"You rely on an object for power? Is that how I trained you, nephew?" chastised Iroh.

"I'm sorry, Uncle!" said the remorseful Prince Zuko.

"If you cannot handle such a thing, perhaps you should not have it?" suggested Iroh.

"You're right, Uncle!" said the crestfallen Zuko, as he prepared to hand over the Heart of Candracar to the wisest man he knew. "You should have it. Here!"

The old man's hands eagerly reached for the glowing pink jewel.

Then...

"Not so fast!" barked the leader of the Guardians.

"You??" said the very puzzled Prince, taking the Heart back. "But, you're dead!"

"No. You zapped us, alright! And it felt like we died. Which is pretty strange, I admit. But it was all a trick!" said Will Vandom.

"A trick?? I don't..." sputtered Zuko.

"Do not listen to her lies, my Prince! She is the cause of that evil thing! Give it to me, so I may end this!" insisted Iroh.

"Us 'dying' was all an illusion!" elaborated Will. "But it was a visual illusion, and it didn't affect Toph. A blind girl!" added Will, who was then joined by the earth bender.

"Prince Zuko!" said Iroh, his voice rising in equal parts anger and annoyance.

But the Prince ignored him and motioned for Will to continue.

"I was closest, so Toph roused me first." continued Will. "She was confused, not only because of the dead/not dead thing, but because she knew the person you were talking to, and could sense it wasn't him!"

"He's not..." said Zuko, looking at 'Uncle' and raising his eyebrow. He then held the Heart of Candracar close to his own heart.

Iroh seethed, and clenched his fists.

"Toph said he was a fire bender, and I asked her, out of curiosity, if he was also a lightning bender." said Will, smiling. "She said yes. And that's when I knew."

"Knew what??" demanded Zuko.

"Who he is!" stated Will, triumphantly. "Because I can sense lightning, and that man has no lightning in him! Hello, Phobos!"

The glamour then faded away, and 'Iroh' was no more!

In his place stood the Prince of lies, Prince Phobos of Meridian!

"Well played, Guardian!" said Phobos, trying to sound complimentary and not put out, but failing miserably and instead sounded like a whiny little bitch!

"What? Who are you? Where's Uncle Iroh?" cried Prince Zuko.

"He's Prince Phobos of Meridian, the man we came to stop before he ruined your world!" Will explained, pleased she was right and that their mission would soon be over. "And to answer your question, Zuko, he's probably holding your uncle prisoner! How else could he glamour himself as your uncle?"

"Is this true?" ordered Zuko. "Tell me what you've done to him!!" growled the Prince, who reached for Phobos but grasped only empty air.

"Yawn! I tire of this. Ozai will not be pleased I didn't return with his precious Avatar, but, oh well. Goodbye." said the bored Phobos, who then disappeared.

"What??" said the stunned Prince. "He's working for my father??"

"What just happened?" asked Toph.

"Phobos just...faded away?" said the puzzled Will Vandom.

"So this Phobos guy is a Spirit?" inquired Toph Bei Fong.

"Huh? A spirit? No, he never had that power before!" insisted Will.

With the departure of Phobos and his magics, the others recovered their senses and began to awake.

Will, seeing everyone was alright, began to work on ending her problem with Prince Zuko.

But he was in no state to talk.

"A demon? Is working for my father??" said the maddened Prince.

"Zuko, listen to me!" Will pleaded. "Phobos is evil and all, but he was right about one thing! You can't handle the power of the Heart! Look at what happened in the Dream World! We could all have been destroyed!! You have to give it back!"

Zuko hesitated, but only for a moment.

Then he let his anger consume him.

"No!!" yelled Prince Zuko, as he took to the sky, blazing a fiery trail of vengeance right back to the Fire Nation. "The only mistake I made was believing my father still possessed honor! And that I needed him to regain mine! But no more! No more. This ends now!!"

"Zuko! Wait!" Will called to the fleeing Prince. "The Heart doesn't do revenge! You need a purity of purpose, or... Dammit!"

"Will?" asked Hay Lin. "What happened?"

"Oh. Nothing much!" said the upset, sarcastic Will. "Phobos only tried to steal the Heart, but I found him out and now Zuko is flying to the Fire Nation to settle his hash and to have it out with his father!"

"So?" said Sokka. "Sounds good to me!"

"Are you kidding me? It's a disaster!" exclaimed Will. "He's still got the Heart, and now he's full of hate! He's just going to get worse!"

"I'm with Sokka on this one!" said Aang. "It seems like he's going to solve our Fire Nation problem for us!"

Just then, a moan from the rubble.

"Oooohhhhh." came the voice.

"It's Zuko's friend!" cried Cornelia. "He's still alive!"

"Great. Another of Phobos' tricks!" muttered Will. "You four help him out!" she ordered her team. "Hay Lin, scout around for a doctor or someplace to treat him."

"Okay, Will!" complied the Air Guardian.

"But I'm a..." interjected Katara.

"A healer! Right! So you can help them!" declared Will.

"Besides, if he's Zuko's pal, he's Fire Nation, and we'd have a hard time finding a hospital to treat him!" pointed out the on the ball Katara.

"Good point!" agreed the leader of the Guardians.

"Taranee..." Will said to her friend, taking her aside. "He's friends with Zuko, so find out everything he knows about the Prince! It could be important later on. I have to talk to Aang."

"You got it, Will!" responded the Fire Guardian.

As the five young girls carried their patient away on a makeshift stretcher made of shattered stonework, Shen opened his eyes and saw Hay Lin floating above him (She was using her power over wind to make the heavy stretcher easier to move, so Cornelia didn't have to do all the work). "Am I in heaven?" he asked.

"What?" replied Hay Lin.

"Because there's an angel in front of me!" Shen (who had a thing about flying) said, and then smiled.

Hay Lin blushed.

"This guy is Zuko's friend??" said the slightly shocked Irma. "Who'da thunk it?"

Setting up a makeshift infirmary somewhere within the sprawling Tomb complex, Katara ministered to Shen's injuries while Irma looked on in wide-eyed amazement.

"How'd you do that?" asked Irma, as Katara's healing abilities stitched together broken bone.

"I put water on the wound..." Katara began, placing water from her sack on a cut. "Then..." she continued, passing her hands over the cut, which slowly healed before Irma's eyes.

"That's, that's amazing!" Irma gasped. "But is there anything you can't heal?"

"If it was really bad," replied Katara, bringing out the vial that hung around her neck, "I could use this water from the Spirit Oasis of the North Pole. It has special healing properties. But I hope I never have to use it!" she said.

Soon, Shen was well enough to talk. And answer Taranee's questions.

Which he happily did, as long as his 'angel' hovered nearby!

This caused Hay Lin to giggle, and even Irma was happy for once, as she didn't have to use her power of suggestion to make him talk!

Cornelia, though, grumbled at the loss of her fine robes! Everything she had was filthy, caked with dirt and mud! How would she ever find new clothes out here in the middle of nowhere?

_Hmmm._ thought the Earth Guardian. _Didn't Will and Taranee mention a gift shop?_

Meanwhile, Will returned to her discussion with the Avatar.

"You don't understand the massiveness of the problem, Aang!" argued Will. "Zuko will be corrupted by the power of the Heart, and he won't stop at the Fire Nation! He'll use that power against anyone in his way, as he tries to re-make the world to suit him! Thousands, no, millions, could die!"

"Do you really think he'd do that?" asked Toph.

"Toph, we're talking about the same man who searched for Aang for years, without even knowing if he was alive!" answered Sokka. "If there's anything Zuko has, it's drive and ambition!"

"The last person to be corrupted by the Heart...tried to take over the Universe!" added Will. "And she didn't possess a tenth of the drive Zuko has!"

"And taking over the universe...would be bad." agreed Aang. "Sighhh. Okay. We'll help you stop him!"

"Thank you, Aang!" said the grateful Guardian, giving him a hug. "I knew I could count on you! I'll gather up the others and make sure we have everything for our trip to the Fire Nation!"

"What do you think, Toph?" asked Aang.

"Let's see. Flying to the heart of the Fire Nation, a country that wants us dead, with a bunch of weird benders to take out the most crazed and powerful loon we've ever met, and a Spirit sorcerer?" said Toph, who paused for effect. "Sounds like fun!"

"Yeah, you know, Toph, it sounds sooo much better when you say it!" said the sarcastic Sokka.

"Catch you later!" said Toph, walking away."I'm getting something to eat! I think I felt a snack stand in this direction!"

Then, in a darkened hallway, two halves of a metal cage dropped down and encased the unsuspecting earth bender girl!

Similarly, while Katara tended to their patient, Will, Cornelia, Taranee, Hay Lin and Irma were each hunted down by virtually invisible men in black who clung to the shadows and fired earth cuffs at them, binding them in an instant!

Caught offguard, the girls had no chance to fight back!

Their assailants quickly trapped them in cages that not only negated their Guardian abilities, but blinded them, so they would be unable to direct their powers at their captors!

_Will! _ thought-yelled the telepathic Taranee, almost making Will's head hurt. _Someone captured me!_

_You too? _thought-replied Will. _I thought it was just me! I'm trapped in a cage, and my powers don't work on it, and..._

_You can't see? _thought Taranee to her leader.

_Yeah! How?_ thought Will to her fellow Guardian.

_They did it to all of us! _thought-exclaimed the Fire Guardian. _But Hay Lin's in even worse shape! They put something on her mouth, I guess so she doesn't blow up any winds! But she's running out of air! I think she's going to pass out!_

_No!! _ thought-screamed the distraught Will, giving Taranee tons of feedback. _How can this be happening?_

_We'll have to rely on Aang and them for help. _thought-replied Taranee Cook.

_Yeah. _Will agreed, telepathically. _If they haven't been captured, too!_

Hearing their friends cry out, Aang, Sokka and Katara rushed to their aid!

Only to be stopped by an Earth Kingdom official.

"Halt, Avatar!" ordered the government agent. "These girls are all wanted for crimes against the Earth Kingdom!"

_Ooh, cliffhanger!_

_Next:_

_Who captured the Guardians and Toph?_

_(Hint: It's more than the usual suspects!)_

_(Double hint: Think Earth Rumble!)_

_What do they want?_

_And will Aang and the others try to free them?_

_Plus:_

_Sokka's fateful decision!_

_Avatar Roku!_

_Yue!_

_Aang has a wish come true!_

_And...the Fire Nation!_

_(Cue the ominous, scary music!)_

_It's everything you want in a team up, as our heroes do what you wish would happen!_

_(But that doesn't turn out to be such a great thing!)_

Notes

Don't be angry with Irma for the Brave New Dream World. She (and Zuko) created that place while under the psychic influence of Phobos.

Here, Irma is Dorothy, Zuko is the Scarecrow, and the Wicked Witch is... Phobos! But don't ask me who Will is! (The Wizard?) There's another analogy gone straight to hell!

Irma kind of reminds me of Frodo from _The Lord of The Rings. _That is, she succeeds and fails at the same time. Remember how Frodo fell under the influence of the Ring at the last moment, dooming everyone, but because he showed compassion towards Gollum, Gollum was there at Mt. Doom to challenge the now-evil Frodo for the Ring, causing it to be destroyed? So Frodo was a hero, and yet not one, at the same time. That's kind of how Irma is doing on the Avatar's world. She tries to do the right thing, but she also does the wrong thing. She's treated like a hero for her successes, but beats herself up for her failures. She's conflicted. She's getting more and more interesting as the story goes on.

The last few chapters have been Will- and Irma-centric (and previously, Cornelia-centric), but I have plans to give Taranee and Hay Lin their special moments, too. Taranee even gets a solo adventure. But Will, Irma and Cornelia are more central to the plot.

Cornelia's fear is alienation, a fear that is exacerbated by her powers (see _The Mudslugs _for the alienated Cornelia listening to sad songs in a dark room). Further proof is in _E is for Enemy_. When the other girls changed into their element in the dream they shared, Cornelia at first refused (she said she was waiting for 'applause'). Then when she did 'become her element', she didn't look like it. If she did, she would have looked like a mass of soil with plants growing out of her. But she still looked Cornelia. This indicates she fears her power taking her over (she did let it take her over in _Z is for Zenith_, but then she had to. And she was the first to complain and demand her humanity back). Another example of her lack of comfort with her abilities is in _B is for Betrayal. _When Cornelia's powers went haywire, she freaked. Also, if she was totally okay with her powers, she would have accepted Nerissa's offer of total power in _N is For Narcissist_. Instead, she refused this change and opted for the status quo of working with her friends.In addition, Cornelia's life was magically erased in issue 39 of the comic, so her family didn't know who she was. No one remembered her except the other members of W.I.T.C.H. Cornelia must have been chosen as the subject of this situation because it's a fear of hers. Alienation also occurs to Cornelia in _W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar _when Cornelia is derided as a 'witch' and a 'plant spirit' and driven out of town, and later when Corny separates herself from the villagers and hides out in the forest. Basically, Cornelia fears that her powers will change her, and come between her and those she loves (Cornelia was the one out of the five who, more than the others, had it 'all together' before her Guardian powers emerged. A skating champ, popular, etc. Weird, elemental powers could definitely change that!). A fear that was only made worse when she learned Lillian was the Heart of Earth.


	47. Versus The Earth

**Author's Note: A lot happens in this chapter, as we get closer to the conclusion of Act III! It took a little longer to finish because I worked ahead, on a solo adventure of a certain Guardian of Fire. But that's near the end of the series, so you'll have to wait for it!**

Chapter 31: Versus The Earth

"They're wanted criminals??" Aang asked. This surprised the Avatar. The Guardians had seemed a little odd, but crooks?

"The two winged ones burned Ba Sing Se! And the other three are their accomplices!" barked the Earth Kingdom official.

Then Aang remembered Will and Taranee told him they were present when Ba Sing Se was set aflame, but blamed it on Zuko. Could they have been lying?

"That's not true!" shouted the captive Will from her anti-electrical box. "Marshal Han cleared us of all those charges!"

"Really? That's not what his report on the Fire said!" gloated the official. "Now be silent!" he ordered.

"We do not wish any trouble, Avatar." said the smarmy government man. "Or.." he said, motioning to two soldiers who carried in a metal cage.

"You rockheads better let me out, or else!!" screamed Toph.

"You captured Toph? Why??" said the shocked Aang.

"We learned she can be...troublesome." replied the government agent, as his twenty-something associates in the Earth Kingdom army and the Dai Li crowded around him in a show of force. Then Aang noticed the Earth Kingdom soldiers included the Earth Rumble contestants who fought Toph when Aang first met her!

"But don't worry. We'll let Miss Bei Fong go once we are safely away with the lawbreakers. We have no interest in her." declared the leader of the Earth Kingdom pack. "She was detained purely to ensure your cooperation."

"Afraid of facing Toph in a fair fight?" teased Sokka, to the large soldier guarding Toph's cage.

"The Boulder is afraid of no one!" said the Boulder, who always spoke of himself in the third person, as he flexed his voluminous muscles in a menacing manner.

Meanwhile, as Hay Lin gasped for breath, her supply of air dwindling in her airtight sarcophagus, Cornelia attempted to bluff her way to freedom.

"You can't do this to me!" screamed the Earth Guardian. "I'm the Plant Spirit! If you don't let me go, I'll, I'll call the wrath of the Earth Spirits down upon you!"

"Ha ha!" laughed the earth soldier guarding her, the devious Mole. "I'm not some ignorant peasant! You may have weird powers, but you can't do anything to us stuck in there!"

"Excuse me, Avatar." said another man standing beside the Earth Kingdom official. "These 'Guardians' not only have to pay for the destruction they wrought in Ba Sing Se, but all of this!" he said, waving his arm at the ruined Tomb with its innumerable destroyed Terracotta statues. "Their crimes are many! So let us pass!"

Will recognized the voice.

It was the creepy man from the gift shop!

"Aang! He's lying!" yelled Will. "He's after us for some reason, but it's not justice!"

"Help us, Aang! Katara!" pleaded Irma. "Will wouldn't lie about something like that! We're innocent!"

Aang hesitated. He didn't know what to do.

He wanted to believe the Guardians. He felt they were essentially good people. But there was something about them that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

And if they were out of his life, he wouldn't complain.

But there was another with a very different idea.

"We have to help them, Aang!" stated Katara, as simply and as boldly as she could.

"But…" Aang held back. After all he'd been through with the five girls from another world, after all he'd seen of the Guardians, he still had qualms about getting involved with them.

"If you won't do anything..." said the grim Katara, who then reached into her water sack and bended a line of water that slashed the faces of the two Earth Kingdom soldiers nearest her.

"Katara! No!! There's too many!" exclaimed Aang.

But Aang couldn't stop the determined Water Tribe girl!

Katara gathered up all of the water Irma had condensed for their fight against Zuko, and sent a great wave crashing against the Earth Kingdom infantrymen!

But, unseen, crouching in the shadows of the Tomb, the Dai Li bent stony projectiles that found their target: the back of Katara's head!

She was out cold in an instant!

Shocked at the brazen assault on his dearest friend (who he secretly loved), Aang lost it!

Without thinking of what he was doing, Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed as he summoned his other, much more powerful form!

"Uh oh!" said Sokka, in the understatement of the year. "Aang's gone all Avatar State! This is not good!"

As Avatar State Aang tore into the horde of soldiers and Dai Li, Will called out to the boy warrior.

"Sokka! You have to let me out!" begged Will. "I can help Aang!"

"You??" wondered the Water Tribe warrior, warily approaching the cage of the Energy Guardian, abandoned for the moment as her captors fought for their life against the fury of Aang! "What can **you** do? Last time you tried to 'help' Aang, you almost blew us all up!!" said the skeptical Sokka, who thought only his sister, his unconscious sister, could talk Aang out of his rage-filled transformation.

"But now I know what I did wrong!" said the sincere girl from another world. "Please! Before he hurts someone! Irma can't keep the other guards distracted for long!"

Irma was using her power of suggestion on the weak-willed Army soldiers watching the Guardians while their fellow soldiers got pummeled by Aang. _You want to let us out! _ thought Irma at one guard, the former Earth Rumbler called the Hippo. "I want to let you out." said the zombiefied Hippo, reaching for the lock on Irma's cage. "What are you doing??" yelled another guard, who played the Mole during Earth Rumble, as he batted down the Hippo's hand. "Huh?" replied the befuddled Hippo. "She's trying to trick you with her evil spirit powers!" said the Mole. _Your friend smells! _ thought Irma. The Hippo laughed. "What's so funny?" asked the Earth Army guard, the Mole. "Heh. You smell!" said the other guard, the Hippo.

Meanwhile, "Aang" reacted to the earth benders opposed to him by using earth bending himself, much as he earlier did against General's Fong's armies. Thus, he sent wave after wave of huge, square rocks at the Earth Army forces, knocking them down and pinning them against the walls of the Tomb!

However, as his Avatar State reacted, instead of waiting for his moment to strike (neutral jin), an opening was created for the crafty Dai Li, who were devious as Fire Nation and slippery as Air Nomads! They used their earth bending skills to climb up walls and avoid Aang's strikes, and then to ride Aang's massive boulders, instead of running away from them, to go the aid of their Earth Army allies. Though the boulders forced the soldiers against an obstruction, the Dai Li used their control over earth to liquify the rock, and freed them.

And so it went.

Aang would attack, and thought the day won when his opponents could not withstand his mighty earth strikes!

But then the Dai Li would free themselves and the Earth Rumbler Army, sparking the fight anew!

(Ironically, if Aang had used air bending against them in the first place, the fight would have been over very quickly!)

Thus the battle continued.

Until such time as Aang's Avatar State realized what it was doing, and ended the resistance of the Earth forces...for all time!

And what of Sokka and Will?

Sokka knew he had a choice to make.

And right then, he thought of Yue's words to him: "You'll have to make a decision very soon, and if it's the wrong one, the consequences will be disastrous!"

_This must be what Yue was talking about! _ thought Sokka. _But what do I do?_

_On the one hand, an out of control Avatar State Aang! _ thought the Water Tribesman, noting the destruction wrought by Aang in his ultimate form. _On the other hand...someone who could make things worse (although, how much worse could things get?) Or could she really help him?...What would Katara do? She's better at moral quandaries than I am! No! She can't make this decision! It's up to me!_

"Please, Sokka!!" implored Will, her words finally reaching the young warrior's heart.

"Okay!" grumbled Sokka, using his boomerang to jimmy the lock. "But I better not regret this!"

"You won't!" said the confident Will Vandom, finally free of her cage.

She then shot off bolts of electricity that first scattered the remaining soldiers near the Guardians, and then fried the locks on her teammates' cells, letting them loose.

Will and Taranee immediately helped the near-passed out Hay Lin out of her airtight box. The Air Guardian breathed in her precious element and quickly recovered. Sokka then asked Will "What's your plan? For some of you to restrain Aang, then the rest to take down all of these earth benders?"

"Not exactly!" Will answered. "We Guardians will take care of Aang! Toph, here," the Guardian leader said, zapping open Toph's metal prison, "she'll deal with the Earth Kingdom forces. I think the girl needs to work off a little steam, don't you think?" Will said with a smile.

"Where are they?" roared the ticked off earth girl, turning to the former Earth Rumblers who had been drafted to serve in the Earth Army, but who then turned mercenary and abandoned their post when offered a sizable cash 'donation' by Prof. Kei's agent to work for him in apprehending the Guardians.

As Toph laid into her former sparring partners, bending boulders into the Boulder and totally rocking the world of the other Army soldiers, she also kicked a rain of pebbles into the air to 'sonar' the Dai Li hanging in the rafters. After locating the sneaky earth benders, Toph waited, listening for her moment to strike, and then took them all out!

"Yes!!" cheered Toph, raising her arms in victory. "I am the greatest earth bender ever!"

Bereft of their protectors, the corrupt government official and his patron, Prof. Kei, ran from the scene before Toph let loose her none-too-tender mercies on them.

Meanwhile, the five Guardians of the Veil converged on their quarry: Avatar State Aang!

"What's the plan, Will?" gulped the cautious Cornelia, after taking a gander at Aang's awesome Avatar State.

"Follow my lead." replied Will. "You and Irma cover a leg, Taranee and Hay Lin will each take an arm, and I'll get in position over his heart."

"You don't have a plan, do you?" asked the skeptical Cornelia Hale.

"Cornelia..." chastised Taranee.

"Okay, okay!" said the haughty Earth Guardian, accepting her fate. "I know Will is 'following her heart'! Let's do it!"

After the Guardians surrounded Aang in his transformed state, Will intoned her own word of transformation: "Quintessence!"

Suddenly, Aang found himself in a strange, white area.

But he wasn't alone!

Will and Taranee were there, in their normal winged forms, yes.

But Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin also had wings!

And they were older!

They looked like they did in his dream!

Except, the colors of their costumes changed.

They weren't purple and turquoise anymore. Their robes were pure white.

They looked like...angels? Goddesses?

"What? Where am I?" asked the confused Avatar.

"You're in your Avatar State, Aang." answered Will. "And we're here with you. Helping you manage it."

"Huh? But how?" said Aang.

He could scarcely believe it, but he knew it was true!

He was in command of the Avatar State!

"Katara said you couldn't control it because you hadn't mastered all of the elements. You were out of balance. So, we thought we'd lend a hand since we're all of the elements in balance!"

"And it worked!" said the grinning Cornelia, happy to be wrong. "How's it feel, little guy?"

"It feels..." Aang began, exploring the Avatar State consciously for the first time ever. The power, the knowledge of all of the previous Avatars. It was all there, just waiting for him to tap into it! It was incredible. Wonderful! Indescribable.

"It feels...good." was all Aang could manage to say. "Even...even the fire." he added, staring at the flame in Taranee's hand. Aang had feared fire, ever since he lost control of it and burned Katara.

"Fire's...kind of special." said Taranee Cook, showing Aang how to handle the element of the sun. "You could even say it's alive. It's always hungry. It always needs to be fed. If you don't feed it enough, it goes out." she said, and the flame died. "But if you give it too much..." and the fire flared up! "It's not good or bad. You just have to know how to handle it."

"I see." said Aang, taking the fire from Taranee's hand. "I get it now."

As Aang manipulated fire for the first time since the accident, he realized all his dreams were coming true.

_I control the Avatar State! _he thought. _I'm, I'm bending fire! I can finally do everything I'm supposed to! I can achieve my destiny! And…maybe more?_

Tears of joy flowed from Aang's eyes.

"This is the best thing anyone's ever done for me!" said Aang, wiping his face. "I can't thank you enough."

"I'm so happy for you, Aang!" squealed Hay Lin, giving the young Avatar a big hug!

Aang was shocked even more at this than at controlling the Avatar State! Hay Lin looked a few years older and, more beautiful than before!

"I, uh..." he mumbled.

"Watch out, Hay Hay!" teased Irma. "Aang's got a thing for older women!"

"Oh, stop it, Irma!" said Hay Lin, blushing.

"Um, why, uh..." said Aang, regaining his composure. "Why do you five look like that?" he asked, referring to the change in their age and clothes.

"I guess you could say these are our 'Avatar States'!" Will answered. "Normally, the power of the Heart of Candracar transforms us. It ages us and gives us our wings. I guess this is how we transform using 'the Heart of Aang'!"

"O-kay." said Aang, scratching his head in puzzlement but realizing he's not going to get an answer that makes any more sense than her statement. "So, what do I do now?"

"Anything you want, Aang!" said Will. "You can come out of the Avatar State at any time! You control it now."

"Oh. Right." replied the Avatar.

So Aang resumed his original Air Monk form, and the other Guardians followed suit, regaining their purple and turquoise, winged, transformed states (Will & Taranee) and their untransformed, half-power states (Irma, Cornelia, and Hay Lin).

Then Aang saw a sight that almost made his heart break!

"Oh no! Katara!!" cried Aang, rushing to her side. "Is she okay??" he asked Sokka.

"She's got a bump on her noggin." replied the somber Water Tribe boy. "But I don't think she has a concussion. She should be fine."

"What about you?" Sokka asked Aang. "What happened? How'd they talk you down?"

"I...can control the Avatar State now!" boasted Aang.

"Seriously?" replied the pleasantly surprised Sokka. "Aang, do you know what this means?"

"Uh, what?" asked the curious Avatar.

"We can attack the Fire Nation...and defeat the Fire Lord!" Sokka exclaimed, full of glee. "We can end the war!!"

"Are you sure?" inquired Aang. "It seems...too easy or something. Maybe we should ask Katara her opinion when she wakes up?"

"What?" said Sokka. It was true. Katara did have an enhanced sense of right or wrong, of following the right path (Well, except for Jet. But that was because her girlie search for love interfered with her judgment). But Katara would agree with this, Sokka told himself. This is what they were all trying to do, their goal from day one! "Katara would totally go along with this, Aang!"

"You think so?" said the young air bender.

"Of course! This is what we've wanted to do ever since we found out Sozin's comet is coming back! Katara would absolutely back us on this!" insisted Sokka.

"I guess you're right." replied the easily convinced Avatar. "When should we leave? After Katara wakes up, or...?"

"No time like the present! She'll wake up on the way." responded Sokka. "Besides, we have to stop Zuko! Which should be no problem with your incredible Avatar powers!"

"Oh. Right! I almost forgot about that!" said Aang, recalling the dilemma of the mad Prince with the immense, otherworldly power!

This fateful decision did not go unnoticed as, in another world beyond our own, yet not totally removed from it, frantic eyes watched all that unfolded.

"Oh, Sokka!" cried Yue, as the moon shed a tear.

"He was without his heart. I'm sorry, my moonchild. The evil one's power surely grows." said Avatar Roku.

"Please! You must help them! They're headed to their doom!" pleaded Yue.

"Perhaps there is a way I can aid them. But there is always a cost for interfering." replied the spirit of the previous Avatar.

"I'll pay any price!" insisted the moon spirit.

"Yes, I know. But it is not you that will bear the burden. Some of them may not survive. Do you still wish me to act?" asked Roku.

"How can you ask such a thing? I...Will they have a chance?" said the hopeful spirit of the Moon, who was once a simple girl, and daughter of the chieftain of the North Pole Water Tribe.

"Yes. A slight one. But a chance all the same, Yue." said the somber spirit of Avatar Roku.

"Then do what you can. But save them!" begged the former Princess, and Sokka's beloved.

As Aang and the others prepared for their momentous trip to the Fire Nation, placing supplies on Appa the flying bison outside of the entrance to the ruined Tomb of Quo Jin, the Guardian of Earth came running out of the Tomb's entrance.

"Uh, guys? I've got a bad feeling! Real bad! We have to get out of here!" yelled Cornelia.

"What's the matter, Corny? That jelly curry come back on you?" joked Irma.

"No! This is serious! I…urp! Oh, I think it is! BLEARGH!" said Cornelia, puking her guts out.

"Yuck!" gagged Taranee.

"I can feel this even through my boots!" said Corny, wiping the regurgitant off her chin. "We have to go! Now!"

"What are you talking about?" asked the annoyed Irma Lair.

Just then, Toph ran out of the Tomb, bending stone and rock behind her to move the captive, defeated Earth forces out of the royal Tomb before it became their own final resting place!

"Run!" screamed Toph. "It's an earthquake!"

Then the tremors began.

A slight rumble, at first.

The Guardians and Aang, Sokka and Toph scrambled to get clear of the ill-fated Tomb complex.

"I've got Katara!" Sokka shouted to Aang, seated at Appa's pilot position. Sokka wanted to let Aang know he had secured the unconscious water bender to Appa's back. "Let's go!"

"Yip yip!" said Aang, pulling on Appa's reins.

And with that, Appa carried his passengers into the sky.

Flying high above the trembling terrain, Aang's group and the Guardians watched as the earth shook and shuddered, then cracked in two. History repeated itself as the great earth movement caused the Tomb to collapse and fall into the ground, burying it once again!

The huge collapse kicked up clouds of dust, out of which ran the Earth Army and the Dai Li, their hands still bound behind their backs, but their legs were free and quickly moved them to safety.

"Wow!" whistled Toph, who felt and heard the earthquake. "The earth spirits must have been really upset!"

"There's no such thing as earth spirits!" Taranee explained. "Pressure builds on the tectonic plates, which move under the earth, and…" Then Taranee noticed Toph had no idea what she was talking about, and began to pick her nose. "Yeah, you're right." sighed the Fire Guardian, giving up on her lecture. "Spirits."

"Corny, what'd I tell you about calling on your spirit buddies?" said Irma, _mostly_ in jest.

"It wasn't me!" denied the Guardian of Earth. "I had nothing to do with this!"

"Hey, uh, did anyone get Shen out of that?" asked Taranee, as another section of the vast Tomb complex imploded and kicked up more clouds of dust.

"Uh oh." said Irma.

Katara had tended to the recovering Fire Nation boy, but with her out of commission, who was left to take care of him?

Then, Aang saw a balloon emerge from out of the smoke.

"Sokka," asked Aang, "did you fix that balloon that crashed?"

"I tinkered with it." replied the clueless Sokka, who was looking in a different direction. "Why?"

"Oh, I just got a feeling!" said the smiling Avatar, tugging on the reins to alter Appa's course.

Catching up to the airship, Appa flew alongside it, allowing his passengers to have an impromptu 'reunion' with the balloonist.

"Shen!" Taranee exclaimed in a state of happy shock. "The quake was so sudden, but you made it out!!"

"When it started, I knew I had to get out of there, but I didn't know where to go!" explained the Fire Nation teen. "I wandered into the area that was missing the roof, and figured it was the safest, since at least the roof couldn't cave in on me, but then I saw the balloon! It was repaired!"

"That was Sokka's doing!" pointed out Aang.

"Yo!" said Sokka, giving Shen a two-finger salute.

"Sokka worked on it with the inventor, so he knows all about it!" added Aang.

"Really? Wow, that's amazing! I..." Shen began to say.

"Yeah, you might want to regulate that valve thingy, so you don't fly into the sun!" said Sokka.

"Oh, okay!" replied Shen, adjusting the valve and almost choking on the gas it emitted. "There! Cough! Got it!"

Turning his attention to the group on Appa's back, Shen asked "Was that Prince Zuko I saw back there before I crashed? What happened to him?"

"Uh, yeah...About that." replied Aang, shifting his eyes.

"Is something wrong?" said the concerned Shen.

"Your friend Zuko is in a lot of trouble." said Will.

"He is? Oh." said Shen, who looked away for a moment, lost in thought. Then he spoke directly to Aang. "But you'll help him, right? I mean, that's what the Avatar does, he helps people! I know you're upset with him because his father forced him to hunt you down, but that's not the real Zuko."

No one knew what to say to that.

_How can I tell him his friend has gone gonzo with power and will probably try to take over the world?_ thought the Energy Guardian.

Then Aang found the words for a diplomatic response.

"We'll do everything we can to help Zuko." said the Avatar.

"Thank you." said the relieved Shen. "And you'll end the war?"

"You want to end the war??" said the baffled Water Tribe boy. "But you're Fire Nation!"

"Not everyone in the Fire Nation wants this war." Shen replied. "There are a lot of good people living there who would end it in a second, but the Fire Lord crushes any who oppose him!"

"That's my plan!" said the grinning Avatar. "To end the war and help everyone! Well, everyone except the Fire Lord!"

"That's great news! I never would have believed such good fortune was possible, but when a girl can fly..." Shen said, looking at Hay Lin, "the sky's the limit!"

"What will you do?" asked Taranee. "Where will you go?"

"Yeah!" Sokka demanded. "The Fire Nation can't get their hands on that balloon again!"

"Don't worry about that!" Shen answered. "Me taking the balloon was an accident, but they probably think I stole it! If I go back now, they'll throw me in prison...or worse! That's why I was hoping you could end this war. Then I'll be able to go home!"

"Oh! I know!" interjected the Air Guardian. "He can go to Avatar Town! The people love us down there! Just say the Guardians sent you!"

"Except that's far to the south, Hay Hay, and the prevailing winds blow due east!" Taranee pointed out.

"East...That Guru guy said he was going east." pondered Irma Lair. "To the Eastern Air Temple."

"There's a guru at the Eastern Air Temple?" asked Aang. "I thought it was abandoned!"

"Not anymore, apparently!" said Will. "The guru's a good guy. I'm sure he'll help you!"

"And the islands of the Eastern Air Temple are right past the Earth Kingdom, so you can't miss it!" added the Avatar.

"Bye! Say hi to the Guru for me!" said Irma, as she and the others waved goodbye to Shen, their paths diverging as Shen headed east in his balloon and Aang and the others flew west towards the Fire Nation.

"Think we should have told him about the onion and banana juice diet?" said Will, giggling.

"Nah! Let him find out for himself!" replied Irma. "He's a strong boy! He can take it!"

Nearing the Earth Kingdom coast, Aang decided to give Appa a break from all the flying as, with the Guardians helping him, he called upon his Avatar State.

Since the transformation was controlled from the start, the Guardians of the Veil didn't have to alter their appearance in any way.

Instead, Aang let the Avatar State grow around them, enveloping everyone in its elastic physicality. It carried them all aloft (even Appa, who was clearly uncomfortable at being the flyee, since he was so used to being the flyer) in a sort of Avatar State 'airplane', the kind Aang had seen in the Heatherfield Dream World. The only way one could tell Aang was in the Avatar State at all were his glowing eyes and illuminated air bender tattoos. But otherwise, the young Air Monk was the same. Same height. Same voice. Same upbeat attitude.

It was while in this relaxed, easygoing state the group (humorously) discussed how to handle Prince Zuko.

"Taranee," Will asked her teammate, "did you find out anything useful about Zuko from Shen?"

"Shen said Zuko used to be nice, well, a little quiet, but not bad or anything, and that he changed after his mother died." the Fire Guardian replied. "He was angry, like, all the time!"

"That tells me all I need to know." said the confident Irma Lair.

"What do you mean?" inquired the curious Cornelia.

"He's a momma's boy." theorized Irma. "So he craves attention and approval, and a lovebomb would totally work on him!"

"A lovebomb?? What's that?" asked Will Vandom.

"Irma, it's sick and wrong to play with people's emotions!" interjected Cornelia.

"A lovebomb's where you give a guy a lot of attention and affection, and pretty soon you have him wrapped around your finger!" the Water Guardian explained.

"You can't just 'lovebomb' someone so casually like that!" argued the Earth Guardian.

"You didn't have a problem with it when we talked about our classmates!" Irma counter-argued.

"Yeah, but that was for fun! This is for real!" declared Cornelia.

"What?" said the dumbfounded leader of the Guardians.

"Oh, I get it!" said the perceptive Irma. "You think I was suggesting you to do the lovebomb!"

"Well, who else? You??" retorted Corny, with a look of disbelief on her face.

"I didn't say me!" shot back Irma.

"Then who? Hay Lin?" wondered Cornelia. "You don't seriously expect..."

"Excuse me?" said Hay Lin, who didn't like the way she was dragged into the conversation.

"What about Taranee?" offered Irma.

"Um, well..." said Cornelia, thinking it over.

"Remember when she dyed her hair pink?" added Irma.

"Okay, maybe Taranee could do it!" Cornelia acquiesced.

"Uh, hello? I'm right here, guys!" Taranee reminded them. "And I found out something else. Zuko has a thing for the Water Tribe girl! Wink wink."

"You mean Katara? Oh! Well, that's okay, then!" said Cornelia.

"Now a lovebomb is 'okay'?" said Irma, exposing Corny's convenient about face on the subject.

"Hey, if I don't have to do it!" admitted the Guardian of Earth.

"Lovebombs? Is this is what you two talk about when the rest of us aren't around??" asked Will, a little stunned at her friends' immaturity.

"Yes!" announced Irma.

"No!" denied Cornelia.

Then the two good friends looked at each other, turned towards Will and said, in unison, "Maybe!"

"Sighhh. You two are unbelievable!" uttered the Energy Guardian.

"Hey, Will, you wanted a plan for dealing with Zuko, right?" said Irma. "Well, there you go! Get Katara to put the moves on him!"

"You know, I think we'll make that Plan Z. That is, if Plans B-Y go belly up!" replied the caustic Will.

"Okay, Will!" agreed Irma. Then, turning to Cornelia, Irma said "Hey, think we should tell Katara that Prince Scar has the hots for her?"

"No. I don't think that's a good idea!" replied Cornelia. "I mean, they're enemies, and nothing alike! It'd never work out! We'd be sparing her a lot of grief by keeping that info to ourselves!"

"Now who's playing with people's emotions?" said the Water Guardian, throwing Cornelia's words back at her.

"It's not like that!" insisted the Earth Guardian. "We'd be helping her by putting the kibosh on a Katara-Zuko relationship! You've seen how Aang looks at her! Do you want to come between that?"

"I guess not." conceded Irma.

"So, just keep it to yourself!" added Cornelia. "Katara doesn't need to know!"

Just then, Katara stirred.

"Unhh. Doesn't need to know what?" she asked.

"Katara! How you feeling? You took a nasty bump back there in the Tomb!" said Irma.

"I'm..." replied Katara, rubbing the bump on the back of her head. "...fine. But what were you talking about?"

"Oh, that! It was nothing!" said Irma, thinking fast. "We, uh, didn't want to tell you because you'd be all disappointed! That, uh, place you wanted to go? The, earth place?"

"Wang Wong Wei's home and studio?" guessed Katara.

"Right!" snapped Irma. "That place got destroyed by the earthquake! A tragedy. But, hey, he wanted a home that was one with the earth, right?" said the Water Guardian, smiling.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" wondered the non-laughing Katara.

"No!" denied Irma. "I mean, it is trying to be a joke, but it's serious, too! There really was an earthquake! You kind of missed a lot!"

Katara stared at Irma. The Water Tribe girl really didn't know what to make of her companion's flip comments. She could sense Irma was hiding something, but what? Then she saw Aang chatting amicably with Hay Lin, the two sitting side by side.

_Why's she staring at me? _thought Irma. _She bought it, right? I mean, there's no way she'd know this is about Zuko! Unless...Does she suspect I was responsible for that Dream World mess? What if she tells the others??_

But unrelated ideas swirled through the water bender's mind.

_So Aang's found someone? So? I should be happy for him! And I am! Right? _thought Katara.

However, their worrying had an effect beyond each water girl's personal happiness.

"Oh no!" yelled Aang. "It's breaking up!" he said, as the Avatar State flying everyone over the ocean began to fade away!

"Yaaa!" they all screamed, as the 'floor' buckled and gave way, pitching some of them violently towards the edge of the huge Avatar State 'wing'!

Sokka, Toph and Cornelia bowled over the side, but managed to grasp hold of the still stable form, although Sokka and Cornelia could see the instability of Aang's Avatar State, of what was once solid becoming insubstantial, spreading and coming towards them!

And below, far below, waited the dark depths of the ocean, with nothing betwixt them and it but a hope, a prayer, that Aang could get the Avatar State under control again!

"Aang! What's going on??" exclaimed Hay Lin, trying to use her wind to blow those that couldn't fly back onboard and within reach of her saving grip, lest they be lost to the heavens if Aang fully lost his Avatar State. But Hay Lin had competition in the wind department: With Aang's loss of control, the upper level currents that once flowed around their Avatar State 'airplane' now howled feverishly in their ears!

Will and Taranee had the same rescue idea, flying over the edge to help Sokka and Toph, who had been knocked from their perch and were now a moment away from oblivion!

"I'm, I'm out of balance!" cried Aang, desperately trying to re-assert control. "In my water element!"

Katara and Irma looked at each other guiltily, then both faced Aang and yelled "It wasn't me!"

"Irma, you have to do something!" said Cornelia, holding on for dear life. She was too far from either Will or Taranee to receive aid from them.

"It was Zuko!" revealed Irma, shouting in the wind tunnel that had replaced their once pleasant journey through the sky. "He's got a thing for you! That's what we were trying to keep from you!"

"What?? Zuko? But...I thought..." Katara began to say.

"I meant help me!!" said Cornelia, begging Irma and criticizing her at the same time.

"Oh! Right, Corny!" replied the sheepish Irma, reaching for her friend. "Sorry."

At that moment, Aang regained control of the Avatar State, the shrieking winds died down, the Avatar State 'plane' re-formed and peace returned once more to the combined crew of elementals from two worlds.

"Whew! It's okay now!" said the _much_ relieved Avatar. "Everything's back under control!"

"But what the heck happened??" said the _much _irritated Cornelia.

"Everyone has to keep their mind on what we're doing." said Will, eyeing Irma and Katara. "That's all." She didn't want to criticize them directly, and risk further instability, but Irma felt her withering stare all the same. Irma wanted to apologize, but realized it was better to say nothing and move on.

Katara, though, had been next to Appa's far side, away from the others, and naturally assumed the sky bison was doing all the flying, but now realized something else was ferrying them all through the sky!

"Wait, what...what's going on?" she uttered, trying to understand the sight before her: Aang was piloting some craft that carried them over the ocean.

"Katara! You're okay!" Sokka, her brother, cheered.

"A lot happened while you were out!" said Will.

"Aang can control the Avatar State!!" said the ecstatic Sokka. "Isn't it great?"

"Really?" said the surprised water bender. "That is good news! So that's why we're up here? Aang is using his control over the Avatar State to fly us?"

"Yep!" confirmed Sokka.

"So what just happened?" asked the water bender.

"A momentary disturbance. It shouldn't happen again." stated Will, who glanced at Irma. "We...fixed the problem."

"Are you sure?" said Katara. Then, she reached her friend and asked "Aang, is everything alright?"

"Everything's great, Katara! I'm so happy you're okay!" said the beaming Avatar, giving his closest friend a hug.

"Really?" said the shook up Water Tribe girl. She couldn't get over Aang's glowing eyes and tattoos. When she had seen that before, it meant her friend was in trouble! But now, Aang actually appeared strong and confident. "Well, you sound okay, too. But what happened back there?"

"Sorry about that!" regretted Aang. "Guess I'm still getting used to this! It won't happen again, though! Promise! Now let me show you what else I can do!"

As Aang showed off his awesome new abilities by wrapping the Avatar State around everyone until it was a huge bubble, creating a submersible that then dove underwater and explored the sea, Katara's fears were not only assuaged, but replaced by wonder.

She had never seen a world, _her _world of water, in that way before.

The marvels beneath the sea took her breath away!

"Oh!" exclaimed Katara, seeing all the colorful varieties of life underwater. "It's..." she said, hesitating before saying "beautiful".

"Yeah, I know." agreed the smiling Avatar, happy that his friend was happy. "But..."

"Not as much as you are!" teased Sokka. "Go on, Aang! Say it!"

"Sokka! Quit bothering Aang!" Katara mildly scolded her brother. "Go on, Aang. What were you about to say?"

"Um," the nervous Aang said, thinking about it, "...they look good enough to eat! Really! Have you ever seen better-looking fish! Although I'm not allowed to eat them, since they are considered meat!"

Watching this scene unfold, Cornelia commented "Ugh! I thought Zuko would be the biggest threat to an Aang-Katara romance! Now I see it's her stupid brother!"

" 'Stupid'?" replied Irma. "I thought you liked Sokka!"

"Don't start, Irma!" challenged Cornelia Hale.

"Think we should do anything about it?" wondered Irma. "We could always stick that boomerang of his where the sun don't shine! That would shut him up!" she joked.

"I'm taking a page from Will on this one!" retorted Corny. "Let's make that Plan Z, alright?"

"Hey! I was kidding!" defended Irma.

Soon, Aang ended their visit below the waves and resumed journeying westward, sailing through the sky with the greatest of ease!

And no one mentioned their destination - the Fire Nation - to the water girl until it was too late to turn back!

As they neared the volcanic islands that heralded the approaching coastline of the Fire Nation mainland, Fire Navy ships dotted the waters below them.

They tried and tried, and tried some more, but couldn't lay even a spark from one of their many fireballs on Aang's flying Avatar State!

"And you can bend fire? That is great, Aang!" said Katara, trying to be supportive. "But I don't know about this attack on the Fire Nation while you're like this! Didn't Avatar Roku say you were more vulnerable in the Avatar State?" cautioned the girl from the South Pole Water Tribe.

"Relax, Katara!" reassured Aang. "With everyone looking out for me, what can go wrong?"

"Yeah! The biggest problem is deciding what to do with these losers!" gloated Sokka, ecstatic that after all these years, and all the grief they visited on his family, the Fire Nation was on the run!

While Aang easily dodged the fire from the ships below, Taranee suggested "I say, fight fire with fire!"

"They're in the water, hello!" pointed out Irma. "Use a huge wave! It's a no-brainer!"

"Then you certainly qualify!" jabbed Cornelia. "Aang, I bet you're powerful enough to make the seabed rise up and crash into them, making them run aground in the middle of the ocean!"

"Or Aang can do what he's been doing, dodging their attacks to tire them out and leave them less ammunition to threaten others!" suggested the more peaceful Hay Lin.

"Those are all good ideas, but…Yeow!! Where'd that come from?" yelled the unpleasantly surprised Avatar, barely avoiding a huge fireball that seemingly came out of nowhere!

Voices assaulted Aang's ears, as he desperately tried to keep it together and protect his friends!

"What's going on??"

"It came out of the ocean! They, they must have a sub!"

"How the heck did they get a submarine??"

"I don't know! Look out! There's more coming at us!!"

"Aang? What's happening??"

"You have to help us!!"

"Aang!!!"

Then Aang couldn't hear them anymore.

He was someplace else.

The Spirit World!

"Aang, what are you doing?" the ancient voice said, clearly unhappy with this latest reincarnation of the Avatar.

"Avatar Roku?? Why am I here? My friends need me!!" cried Aang.

"The world has no need of an Avatar unable to perform his duties." intoned the serious Roku. "Why are you involving yourself with these girls, Aang, after the warning we sent you? They're dangerous!"

"You gave me that dream? But, but I was only helping them! That's what I'm supposed to do, right?" replied the unsure air bender.

"Except they're not of this world! They don't belong here!" bellowed Avatar Roku to his young charge. "Aang, how many times have they almost gotten you killed? I forbid you from providing any further assistance to these 'Guardians'!"

"What? But...you can't. They don't mean to. It's not their fault!" Aang meekly protested.

"You would disobey me, Aang?" asked the furious Spirit of Roku.

"No! Of course not, Master Roku!" said Aang, complying with the wishes of the honorable Spirit who held the title of 'Avatar' before he inherited it. "It just seems so...unfair."

"Aang, what would have happened if I hadn't pulled you into the Spirit World just now?" said Roku, spelling it out for the young air bender.

"The...the Avatar reincarnation cycle would have ended. Forever." Aang had to admit.

Aang bowed his head in shame.

To lose his own life was one thing.

But to cause the end of the Avatar for all time?

(Because that's what would happen if Aang is killed while in the Avatar State, which is what Katara was so worried about.)

That was unforgivable!

"Now what, Avatar Roku?" the humble Aang asked. "What do I do?"

"Now..." Roku solemnly began. "...Now you go back."

When Aang next opened his eyes, it was to a world in chaos!

He was on land, and scores of Fire Nation soldiers were furiously shooting balls of fire over his head, to his right, to his left!

Katara, Sokka, Hay Lin and another one (Cornelia? Irma? It was hard to tell, in the moment he took in the whole mad scene!) lay unconscious on the ground, defeated!

Other soldiers had thrown a net and ropes on Appa and were trying to take him down!

But some of his compatriots still fought!

"Aang?? Thank God you're back! We need help!" shouted the hovering Taranee, as she parried a platoon of fire benders with one hand while the other hand formed a fire shield. "Only me, Will and Toph are still on our feet!"

Aang hesitated.

_Roku said I can't help them! _ thought the frantic air bender. _What do I do? I..._

Then the decision was taken out of his hands; Aang was struck from behind!

As darkness claimed him, Aang's last vision was of a desperate, pleading Guardian of Fire.

"Aang!!!"

_Oh no!_

_Our heroes have gone from the (cage of metal) frying pan to the fire (Nation)!_

_"Love me, love me, feed the flame_

_if you want me back again_

_burn to the sky_

_higher and higher_

_baby, can you play with fire?"_

_Enough with the Hilary Duff songs!_

_I promise I won't do anymore!_

_Cross my heart, and..._

"_To the beat of my, to the beat of my heart."_

_Argh! No! Must…resist…evil...Duff's…mind...control!_

_Next:_

_The Guardians, Aang, all of the most powerful benders have lost!_

_(Or given up!)_

_Has the team of Ozai and Phobos finally won?_

_Who can save our heroes now?_

_Would you believe...Irma & Cornelia?_

_(Yeah, I don't believe it, either!)_

_But first:_

_Whatever happened to Zuko?_

Notes

Aang doesn't immediately help free the Guardians because he's been getting mixed signals about them. It's when he ignores those signals (the dream, his own dangerous experiences with the Guardians) that Avatar Roku dresses him down.

The Earth Kingdom forces don't try to capture Aang because 1) he's popular, and they couldn't detain him indefinitely on trumped-up charges and 2) they need him to defend the Earth Kingdom from the Fire Nation. So they don't want to tick him off.

The Earth Rumble earth benders included The Boulder, Big Fat Hippo, a guy who looked like a doctor who dug underground, and who seemed primarily responsible for Toph's imprisonment (and therefore smarter than the rest) but who didn't have a name (I'm calling him the Mole), another who wore a Mexican wrestler mask (the Masked Earth Bender?) who slithered around and was kind of creepy (he also did an odd earth bending trick - he sat all on all fours on four rocks he bent/levitated), another who wore an African witchdoctor mask (?), and the required 'villain' of the tournament, the guy who sang the Fire Nation anthem (like the Russian wrestler from the 80s). They're all there in the army, too, although they're not identified. I surmise the Earth Kingdom, in its darkest hour, drafted all the earth benders it could find. These guys were assigned to guard the trade routes between the coast and Ba Sing Se, which are on the other side of the mountains from Placid Springs. The Earth Rumblers and the Dai Li make for a pretty good team, as they balance each others' strengths and weaknesses.

Why does the EK Army treat Hay Lin so harshly? Because Hay Lin is an 'air bender', even though all of the air benders are supposed to be extinct, except for one, and he's the Avatar, but Hay Lin is female and so can't be the Avatar! Her oddity inspires extreme reactions in the people, all the way from 'angel' (Shen) to 'demon' (Earth Army).

Before she went into the Dream World, Cornelia was barefoot so she could 'feel' the plants better. While in the Dream World, she and the others were psychically attacked by Phobos, who preyed upon the Guardians' fears. The plants tried to warn her, but she rejected them. After she exited the Dream World, she was wearing her boots. Then, when she again taps into the earth (and feels the earthquake coming), she gets sick.

These are all clues to what's going on with her.

(She's not pregnant, if anyone had that silly idea!)

'Lovebombs' are associated with religious cults. It's how they recruit new members. Although romance usually isn't involved.

I bet you weren't expecting the submarine! Now you see why I introduced it.

Update: Submarines were introduced in Avatar in Season 3, but they were used by the other side, and they were not motorized.

Aang had the gigantic Avatar State form in Siege of the North because he had combined with the Ocean Spirit. So why does he have a similar Avatar State form in this series, instead of his regular body? Because of the influence of the Guardians, obviously. But what else is going on?

The earth spirits caused the quake, but why? (The answer is in Act IV: Air).

Also, Avatar Roku planted the seeds of doubt in Irma's and Katara's minds to disrupt Aang's Avatar State. It could be argued that he didn't have to. But he told Yue he'd try to help, so he had to do something. Disrupting their flight, he hoped, would scare them into abandoning their quest. And when that didn't work, he had to take more direct action that was far more perilous. Snatching Aang's spirit out of his body and dragging it to the Spirit World would be a last-ditch attempt to save the day, and not the preferred strategy, because of all the negative repercussions to such an act.

Avatar Roku doesn't trust the Guardians, for reasons that will become clear much later.

This chapter is called "Versus The Earth" for reasons both obvious and not so.


	48. Interlude 14: Zuko and Ozai

Interlude Fourteen: Zuko and Ozai

_Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home._

- Bill Cosby

_Home (definition) - A place that, when you go there, they have to take you __in._

**AHHHHH!!!!!**

Came the scream from the heavens, followed by the super-heated comet that was Prince Zuko, bearer of the fabled Heart of Candracar.

He tore through the defenses of the Fire Nation like a one-man army of fire-breathing dragons!

A mighty fire blast scattered one regiment!

Then, with a wave of his hand, a wall of flame arced through another fire platoon, driving them to their knees!

Alighting in the midst of the Fire Lord's personal guard, an elite crew of fire benders, best in the world, Prince Zuko, though angry, used his anger to focus his recently acquired abilities and, with a slight motion of his index finger, calmly removed their skill of fire bending!

Most, dumbfounded and rather shook up at this terrifying development, parted to let the banished Prince enter the Fire Lord's palace.

Most. Not all.

Though bereft of their element, and facing incredible odds, some proud soldiers would not abandon their duty to their Lord.

They ran at Zuko, a dozen perhaps, maybe more, with swords poised for the killing blow, the sound of imminent death issuing from throats hungry for blood!

How did that stratagem turn out?

The answer could be found in the way Prince Zuko entered his father's seat of power, kicking Fire Nation helmets and armor before him!

"Father!" called the enraged Prince to his sire. "It is time for an ending!"

"I quite agree!" said the oddly happy Fire Lord. "Welcome home, son!"

"Welcome??" said the confused Zuko. "But I'm here to end your reign!"

"I am proud of you! You have finally become a man!" said the beaming Ozai, as he attempted an uncharacteristic hug of his only son.

"What?? No! This is some trick!" said the disbelieving Fire Nation Prince, pulling away from the loving parental embrace.

"A trick? No. No trick. You have become the man I wished you to be. Strong! Confident! Powerful! Is that not true, my son?" asked the Fire Lord.

"Yes." agreed Prince Zuko. "It is true. But...But you have much to answer for!" said the Prince, regaining his anger. "You sent a demon after me! You lack honor!"

"A demon?? What do you mean?" said the puzzled ruler of the Fire Nation.

"He is called Phobos, and he said he worked for you! Do you deny it?" demanded the young Prince.

"No. I do have a Prince Phobos in my employ. A rather irksome magician, if I do say so myself. But I appointed him to another task. I did not order him to harm you in any way!" said the truth-telling Ozai.

"You didn't?" said Zuko, his confidence in his mission beginning to crack. "But he, he appeared as Uncle Iroh! He took your brother prisoner!"

"Indeed? This is shocking news, Prince Zuko! I'm glad you informed me! I suspected the outworlder was up to no good, but if he has harmed a hair on my brother's head, he will pay the most severe price!" stated the regal Fire Lord to his chosen heir.

The 'Fire God' was stunned. Ozai believed him!

"Thank you, father! I..." began Zuko.

"But come! We must make plans for your coronation!" said the happy head of the Fire Nation.

"My coronation? But...I don't understand. Are you abdicating?" said the baffled Prince Zuko, his head swimming. Of all the possible ways this day could have gone, he never expected this!

"No, of course not! You will have to pry the crown from my cold, dead fingers! And I fully expect you to do that...one day, when I am not fit to rule. But I would hope that day is not today!" said the smiling Ozai. "Until then, I would be pleased if you would accept my offer to rule at my side!"

"Co-rule? You mean it? But what about Azula?" asked the Prince.

"I'm sure we can find somewhere suitably far...and cold, for her to rule! Say, the North Pole?" laughed Ozai.

Zuko joined in his father's merriment.

He had dreamed of this day, but never did he think it would ever arrive!

His father, Fire Lord Ozai, proud of him!

Choosing him as heir to the throne, instead of his despised, cruel sister!

And enjoying his company!

If only his mother were here to see this!

Then...reality intruded.

"I do wish you to lead our glorious Nation, but first..." intoned Ozai, turning serious, the laughter gone from his voice.

"Yes, father?" inquired Zuko, curious to see where this was going.

"I've learned you can do these amazing feats because of a jewel. Is that true?" asked the Fire Lord.

"Yes, sire, it is. But..." Zuko started to say.

"I see." sighed Ozai, the disappointment evident in his voice. "Give it to me, Prince Zuko!" he ordered.

"No!" replied the proud Prince, who was nonetheless a bit surprised to be standing up to his father, something Zuko didn't do even when he faced the Fire Lord in the Agni Kai that resulted in his disfigurement and banishment. "I can't, father! You don't know what you're asking! I could not give this up, even if it meant eternal exile!"

"You would deny a direct order of your liege?" asked the offended Fire Lord.

"Yes. Yes, I would, father!" said the firm Prince.

Fire Lord Ozai's face flushed with rage!

_Was he about to attack? _ thought the young Prince.

He tensed, ready to respond in kind.

But Ozai's features softened, and his frown grew into a smile.

"Well done, my boy! Well done!" said the Fire Lord, giving his son a congratulatory handshake. "Of course I could not ask you to give up the source of your power! Only a fool would do that!"

The cheerful Ozai then escorted Prince Zuko to the throne room, and motioned to the crown he intended to give his son.

"That was the final test, and you passed! Congratulations!" Ozai praised Zuko. "Here is your crown! I would be honored if you put it on!"

"Thank you, father!" said Zuko, placing the crown upon his head. "I hope to always make you proud!"

"Oh, you shall!" sneered Ozai.

"What??" said the confused Prince, the crown around his brow. "Unhhh! What..what's happening..." he said, falling to the floor, weak as a kitten.

The crown was a trap!

Forged by Prince Phobos, it sapped elementals of all of their power!

"What's happening is you're weak and pathetic!" bellowed the cruel Fire Lord. "Take him away! Out of my sight!" he ordered his guards, who picked up Prince Zuko and prepared to take him to the Wheel.

"But first...get rid of that ridiculous stone, Prince Phobos!" said Ozai to the oily Prince of Meridian, who emerged from the shadows.

"With pleasure, my Lord!" said the eager Phobos, whose magic spell levitated the Heart of Candracar away from its present bearer and encased it in a magical force field, so no one could utilize its power. "Though none may use the Heart without permission, I have just the place for it! On the Wheel, for when the benders are...gone." he gloated. Phobos knew when all those with claim to the Heart are no more, he can acquire the power of the Heart for himself.

"No..father...you can't." gasped Prince Zuko, his world crashing down upon him. "Im, I'm your son! He's..."

"You're no son of mine! You're a weakling, and a failure! You sicken me! Using an object to defeat your betters? You dishonor your entire family with such acts! Let all know, that on this day, I have a son no more!" raged the Fire Lord, his proclamation echoing in Prince Zuko's mind endlessly, over and over.

"No...No...It can't be...I'm the Fire God. Not a failure...Not..." he mumbled.

"It is just as you said, Prince Phobos!" said Ozai to his ally. "I would not have believed it myself if I had not seen it!"

"Yes. When he interrupted my mission to bring the Avatar back to you and began to accuse you of terrible things, I knew I had to get back here to warn you! He's obviously been driven insane from that Heart!" said the devious Meridian Prince.

"And you're sure I will soon have the Avatar?" inquired the Fire Lord of his resident magician.

"Yes, my Lord! The Guardians and the Avatar both will be compelled to follow the, ah, former Prince!" replied the crafty Phobos. "The lure of that infernal jewel is irresistible!"

"Hmmm. Prepare a proper welcome, then!" ordered the Fire Lord. "That will be all!" he added, waving Phobos away.

"As you command, sire!" obeyed Prince Phobos, rushing off to gather the squads of fire benders needed to conquer Aang's group and the Guardians.

Meanwhile, Prince Zuko's helpless body was dragged to Phobos' great elemental Wheel, and roped to its highest point, the Heart placed tantalizingly just out of reach in the center of the top tier.

His fate drew the attention of another lashed to the insidious Wheel - Iroh!

"Prince Zuko? Nephew? Is that you?" inquired the kind-hearted Uncle Iroh.

"Uncle Iroh?" said the mega-depressed Prince of the Fire Nation, barely raising his head in acknowledgment. "Don't look at me! I'm a failure! I fail at everything! I'm nothing! I, I deserve this!"

"Zuko, listen to me!" said the caring Uncle, who was more of a father to the young Prince than his real father. "You can only be a failure if you do not live up to your potential! You're a victim, not a failure! Zuko?"

But the fallen Prince Zuko did not respond to his uncle's many entreaties and soothing words.

In fact, he didn't say anything.

Not for a long time.

_So much for Irma's lovebomb plan! Ozai beat her to it!_

_So Zuko's down, Aang's down, the rest are under attack by the Fire Nation...yeah, they're dead!_

_Next:_

_Our heroes are at the mercy of Ozai & Phobos!_

_And the last hope for freedom is…Irma & Cornelia?_

_Those bickering b, I mean, W.I.T.C.H.es?_

_The ones with hardly any power?_

_Against the whole Fire Nation?_

_Oh God, this is gonna hurt, isn't it?_

_I should give up right now!_

"_I pledge allegiance to the Fire Lord and the one man rule he represents,_

_one Fire Nation, under the Fire Lord, with liberty and justice as he sees fit to bestow." _

_Or…_

_Or maybe not._

_Maybe there's one hope left…_


	49. Under Fire

Chapter 32: Under Fire

_"No matter how powerful you are, there's always someone more powerful than you."_

In the aftermath of battle, the victors took the vanquished into custody.

Not only Aang, Katara and her brother, Sokka, but also their valiant defenders who fought to the very last, yet, in the end, couldn't prevail against the vast multitudes of Fire Nation soldiers unleashed on them by the Fire Lord: Will, Taranee, Toph, and...

"We have them, Princess!" said the Captain of the Guard, as his men dragged away the unconscious Guardians and Aang's crew.

"Thank you, Captain! The Fire Lord will be pleased we finally have the bothersome targets he sought! This is a great day in Fire Nation history! There will be celebrations and...wait!" snapped Princess Azula, doing a quick headcount. "This isn't all of them! There are two more! Not the most dangerous, but there must be no loose ends! Find them, or your life is forfeit!"

"Y, yes, Princess! We'll get on it right away!" croaked the Captain. "They won't escape the entire might of the Fire Nation!"

In a dark alley some distance away, a near-exhausted, adrenaline-fueled Irma Lair finally relaxed and set down her precious cargo, which she had pulled all the way to her present hiding place:

Cornelia!

"Oooohh!" said the groggy Earth Guardian, regaining consciousness. "What...?"

"Fire Nation happened, remember?" said Irma. "After Aang went all catatonic and his Avatar State faded for the second time, we piled on Appa! Kind of a good thing we had that dress rehearsal when Aang lost the Avatar thing the first time, or we wouldn't have been prepared!"

"Yeah, I remember that!" replied Cornelia. "But there were too many fireballs in the air! Appa was forced down. Then..."

"The Fire Nation ambushed us! It wasn't pretty." added Irma, as the vain Corny checked herself for bruises on her skin and blemishes on her face.

Then Cornelia recalled what was most important.

"Our friends! We have to go help them!" she cried.

"Hold on, Corny!" cautioned Irma. "They've all been captured!"

"So we run? Is that what you're suggesting??" railed Cornelia Hale.

"No! But think about things before you go rushing off! Our powers, such as they are without the Heart, aren't the greatest in a fight! I barely got away! And you wouldn't even be here if your plants hadn't yanked you out of the middle of the danger zone!"

"They did? I don't remember doing that." said the confused Cornelia.

"It must have been your subconscious, then, trying to save you." suggested the Water Guardian. "Anyway, we're going to need help to rescue the others, so I think we should contact the rebels..."

"What rebels??" blasted the Guardian of Earth. "There are no 'rebels' in the Fire Nation! Like they say, 'the Fire Lord rules all with an iron fist'!" she added, repeating the phrase every child in the Fire Nation (and plenty more in the Earth Kingdom) learn at an early age.

"But Shen said…" began Irma's counter-argument.

"Yes, Irma, there are people in the Fire Nation who don't LIKE the Fire Lord, but there's no organized opposition! There's barely a rebellion in the Fire Nation-occupied Earth Kingdom!" said the critical Miss Hale.

"There are no rebels? At all?" replied Irma. "Is that what Jet told you?" she said, mentioning the name of the Earth Kingdom rebel leader Cornelia partnered with for a time, before he was exposed as a fanatic.

"Yes, but he wasn't the only one!" explained Cornelia. "We had several strategy sessions with other rebels, and they all told us the same thing: That we couldn't expect any help from anyone in the Fire Nation! It was why it was so hard to convince the people to join us! They all thought a rebellion was hopeless without allies!"

"Oh. Well, I wasn't up on the whole political thing. They didn't talk about that at the bar where I worked." said the deflated Irma. "I mean, even Meridian had rebels, so I just assumed..."

"Way to go, Irma! I'll be sure to send Martin a postcard for you: Dear Martin: Irma and the rest of us will never see you again because she stupidly assumed she could get help in the Fire Nation! Sincerely, Prisoner #05469!" ranted the extremely peeved Guardian of Earth.

"Stop it!" yelled the upset Water Guardian. "Corny...Cornelia, I don't want us to fight anymore. Besides, it was Will who told me to get help."

"She did?? Sorry." said Cornelia, noting the pain etched on the face of her friend. "Irma, you know most of the time I spout off like that I don't mean it! It's…"

"A drama queen act to hide your insecurities and at the same time shine a spotlight on you, your way of saying 'look at me, look at me!'?" said the observant Miss Lair.

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it. I was going to say 'nothing', but yours is good, too. How'd you ever think of that?" said Cornelia, a bit stunned at Irma's sudden insight.

"Why do you think I make jokes all the time?" replied Irma, her arms wrapped around her head as if she was locked in intense thought.

"I see." said Corny, fearing for her friend's mental state. "Irma, are you alright?" she gently asked.

"Are you?" jabbed Irma, right back at her.

"Truthfully? I don't know." said the honest Cornelia. "But, as long as we stay together..."

"There's got to be something we can do!" said Irma, thinking out loud. "But what? Wait...that's it!" she said, a look of triumph on her face.

"What?" said the curious Corny.

After detailing her plan, Cornelia had one response for Irma.

"Are you crazy??"

"But our powers are perfect for a rescue mission!" argued Irma. "Besides, didn't you do stuff like that all the time when you ran with Jet?"

"Well, sure, but then I had a whole team backing me up!" countered Cornelia. "And we hit little dinky Fire Nation outposts! Not the freakin' fortress at the heart of it!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Irma asked, very plainly.

"No." admitted Corny.

"Then my plan it is!" said Irma, sounding confident for the first time in a long while.

Meanwhile, behind the Palace, Azula gloated as the defeated Will, Taranee, Hay Lin, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph were made the newest additions to Prince Phobos' great Wheel!

As the heroic elementals (and Sokka) slowly recovered their faculties, they discovered they were bound tight to the Wheel, unable to escape!

Even worse, they couldn't access their powers! The magical bonds were somehow draining them of their great gifts!

And Princess Azula couldn't resist the urge to twist the knife even deeper.

"So good to see you again, Hay Lin!" said the evilly insincere Fire Nation Princess, greeting the girl she befriended in Avatar Town for the sole purpose of laying a trap for the Avatar. "So good to see you all!" she said, eyeing her long-sought prize - Aang, the Avatar! "Father has such plans for you!!" she cackled.

"Azula...How's that shiner?" asked the now-conscious Will.

Azula, furious at being reminded of her humiliating defeat, almost fried the captive Guardian leader on the spot!

Then the anger left her face, to be replaced by the even scarier smile of a girl with crazed, insider knowledge. "While nothing would please me more than to grind you into dust, father forbids it! Heh. After father is through with you, we will be too busy storming the walls of Ba Sing Se to care about silly Agni Kais!" Azula chortled.

Then the Fire Nation Princess turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, leaving the Guardians to wonder what dire fate Fire Lord Ozai had in mind for them.

At that time, from their hidden vantage point on a roof overlooking the Fire Lord's Palace, Irma and Cornelia surveyed the scene.

"There's way too many soldiers!" said the worried Guardian of Earth, peering over the edge. "How are we supposed to get in there?? It's like you said, our powers aren't made for fighting!"

"Yeah, we relied on our super Guardian powers too much!" agreed Irma. "So we never developed other ways of fighting, like Will with her fists of fury! How did Caleb do it?"

"What about Caleb?" asked Cornelia, wondering why Irma brought up the name of her boyfriend.

"He invaded Phobos' palace, like, every other day! He was there so often I think he was paying rent!" joked the Guardian of Water. "Hmmm. Thinking's hungry work!" said Irma, taking out a fire cake.

"You have food??" cried the starving Corny, holding out her hand for a piece. "Where'd you get that?"

"I...acquired it while you were out." answered Irma, offering some to her friend.

"You mean you stole it!" corrected Cornelia, grabbing the Fire Nation delicacy.

"No. I bartered for it. With a little help, of course." said Irma, pointing to her head, indicating her power of the mind. "Ah, you didn't care for that ankle bracelet you wore, right? Oh, hey, watch out! That's a little..."

"You did what now??" said Cornelia, aghast at what her companion implied. "Ow!!" she said, upon biting into the fire cake.

"...hot." finished Irma. "The food here is a bit...spicy."

"A bit??" "Whoo! Hot! Hot! Hot!" said Corny, furiously trying to wave a breeze into her mouth to cool it off, and forgetting all about Irma's 'appropriation' of her ankle bracelet.

"I think I have an idea." said the crafty Irma Lair.

"What?" said the skeptical Cornelia, between gulps from the sweet, oh so heavenly, water bottle she carried with her. Corny would never have pegged Irma as the plan-making type. "I hope you're not thinking of pulling a 'Wizard of Oz' by getting the drop on some guards and stealing their clothes! That would never work in real life! Besides, it's totally gross!"

"Nah. I have a better movie in mind!" snapped Irma.

"Huh?" said Cornelia, hoping she heard wrong and Irma really isn't going to use something she saw in a film.

"Follow me!" urged the Water Guardian, rushing towards the Palace.

"Irma!!" shouted Corny, as quietly as she could to avoid attracting attention.

But Cornelia had no choice but to chase after her friend.

Irma had spotted a possible way in on the side of the Palace, adjacent to a courtyard.

Hurrying across the rooftops of the Fire Nation village next to the Palace, the girls literally jumped over Fire Nation patrols looking for them!

Finally, though, the rooftops ran out and they had to leap onto a gangway next to the Palace.

Pressing their slender bodies firmly against the cold stone walls of the Fire Lord's fortress, Cornelia and Irma both prayed the approaching Fire Nation soldiers would pass them by without incident.

However...

You! Check down there!" barked the leader of the soldiers. "And you, check that walkway! Move it! Move it!"

"Yes sir!" replied the obedient FN soldier.

"Uh oh." said Irma, as the soldier approached their place of concealment. "Looks like it's time for my Behind The Scenes MOT!" she said to Cornelia, trying to make light of this oh so serious moment.

"Your what??" said the mystified Earth Guardian. _She's doing this NOW?? _ thought Corny.

"Moment of Truth?" explained the annoyed Guardian of Water. "Now YOU don't get my pop culture references? I can see why Katara wouldn't..."

"Irma." replied the taciturn Earth Guardian, motioning to the soldier advancing towards them.

"Oh. Right. I got it." whispered Irma.

"Huh?" said the Fire Nation army man, as he caught a glimpse of our two Guardians. "I f-" he started to say.

Then Irma let him have it!

_There's no one here! _ thought-blasted Irma, right into the poor soldier's excuse for a mind. Months of taking orders had sapped his will, making him especially susceptible to Irma's suggestions.

"There's no one here." he repeated to his superior.

_All clear! _ Irma thought, driving the idea into the soldier's head.

"All clear!" yelled the infantryman to his commanding officer.

Irma was ecstatic! Her plan was working better than she dreamed!

She and Corny would have no problem now! They can walk in virtually invisible!

And then Irma pushed it.

Feeling sure of herself, and confident in her abilities, she repeated a line from one of her favorite movies.

_These are not the droids you're looking for. _thought Irma. She giggled. She really did love _Star Wars, _and now she was just like a Jedi!

But the hapless soldier repeated the phrase.

"These are not the droids you're looking for!" he intoned.

Which no one in the Fire Nation had ever heard.

"What did you...?" said the Captain of the guard, who stopped upon hearing the odd words. "Men! Down there!" said the suspicious Captain, directing his soldiers towards Irma & Cornelia's pathway.

"Irma!! What did you do??" screamed Cornelia as the horde of soldiers rushed at them!

"I'm sorry!" said the ultra-apologetic Water Guardian. "Sorry for everything." she added, hanging her head in shame.

"What?" responded Corny, not sure what Irma meant by that last part. But the Guardian of Earth had no time to ponder her friend's words.

The Fire Nation soldiers were upon them, in force!

"Corny! You take the ones on the right, and I'll take the ones on the left!" barked Irma.

"Are you insane??" Cornelia retorted. "They have weapons! Big, nasty weapons!"

"Seemed like the thing to say!" said Irma, raising her hands in surrender. "It always sounds better in the movies!"

As the Fire Nation soldiers led our heroines away, an unreasonably optimistic Irma added "They're taking us to our friends! I told you my plan would work!"

"Yeah. Great plan." grumbled Cornelia, as the soldiers prodded her on with their sharp swords.

"Quiet! No talking!" ordered the Captain.

At that moment, on the Wheel, the other Guardians discussed Fire Lord Ozai's plans for them.

"What did Azula mean, Will?" asked Taranee.

"I don't know. It can't be anything good!" responded the dour leader of the Guardians. "But Irma and Cornelia are free. So we still have a chance!" said Will, holding out one last, slim hope for salvaging their mission.

Then the soldiers marched the two newly captive Guardians into the building behind the Palace that housed the great Wheel of Phobos.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Will, her hopes dashed.

"Corny..." whispered Irma. "Now!" she shouted.

In an instant, Irma's kamikaze style of rapid thought casting invaded one soldier's mind, telling him the Fire Nation army man to the right of him was out to get him, so the soldier struck his fellow!

This unusual display of fragging so unnerved the other soldiers, they took their eyes off of Irma and Cornelia.

Cornelia made full use of the distraction.

She telekinetically sent rocks and dust from her bag into the eye and mouth holes of the Fire Nation soldier's helmets!

Thus temporarily stricken, they were then cut down by their flat of their own swords, which Cornelia easily controlled.

Irma, no slouch herself in the art of battle, took down a few of the military by using her pinpoint control over water. Her water whip slashed their swords right out of their hands!

Then, when one Fire soldier was about to fire bend her to oblivion, Irma condensed water in his body. The pain was so great he passed out!

As they rushed to free their friends, Taranee was most impressed. "Wow! That was amazing! You took out a whole Fire Nation patrol in no time at all!"

"Props to Irma! It was her plan!" gushed Cornelia. "She's almost as good as Will when it comes to battle strategies!"

"Why, thank you, Cornelia!" said the gracious Irma, bowing.

"Will you two cut the mutual admiration society and get us down off this thing?" scolded Will. "If Azula comes back..."

"Azula? Pshh! I can take her!" pooh poohed the ebullient Miss Lair, as she began to undo Will's bonds. "She's nothing! Why, I'll have you know..."

**ZAPT**

And down went Irma and Cornelia, victims of a vicious electric blue blast!

"What was that, water fool? You actually thought you stood a chance against me?" jeered Princess Azula, as she stood over the bodies of her two foes, who fought a losing battle to stay conscious.

"Azula? I'm gonna...short circuit...your...bonee..." gasped the Water Guardian, remembering how she defeated Azula in the Dream World, before she succumbed to the darkness.

"What are you going on about, Guardian?" wondered Azula. "Ah. No matter! Hmm. I should inform Ty Lee you're here! She's still upset over that scar you gave her back in Avatar Town! Maybe she'll give you a matching scar? Ha ha ha ha!"

Then Azula ordered her men to lash Irma and Cornelia to the Wheel, joining their friends in elemental agony.

"Now father's plan can proceed! I must tell him the good news!" she crowed, and then exited the hall.

With all of the Guardians captive, despair settled over the group like a funeral shroud.

Eventually, Irma opened her eyes.

But it wasn't a sight she'd ever wish to see!

They were all trapped, bound to Phobos' Wheel!

But not just the Guardians, or Aang and his friends.

There were others ensnared with them, high above at the top of the Wheel.

Other enemies of Phobos?

Irma didn't know, but she saw something that gave her hope!

"Unhhh. I'm guessing this isn't one of those gravity exercise machines, huh?" she said, trying to make a joke.

"Irma! You're okay!" said Will, the leader of the Guardians.

"For however long that lasts!" bitched Cornelia.

"What's the problem?" said the cheery Water Guardian. "Aang's back among us in the land of the living, so now that we're all together, we can form the Avatar State and get out of here!"

"Uh, Irma?" said Taranee, the bearer of bad tidings. "Not gonna happen."

"What? Why not??" said the flummoxed Irma. "He's okay, right, Aang?"

"I..." Aang began to say. "...I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?? Will does the whole 'Quintessence' thing, you go all 'Whoosh', and off we go!" said the optimistic Irma. "Simple!"

"Except Aang can't help us!" Will pointed out. "Avatar Roku told Aang he couldn't assist us in any way!"

"What?? That's crazy!" cried Irma Lair. "We're kind of in a lot of trouble here, so let's go, Aang! Make like the Avatar and let's fly!"

"I can't." admitted Aang. "I promised Roku I wouldn't. I'm sorry."

"This is insane!" moaned Irma. "Who is this Roku guy, so I can tell him off when I get out of here!"

"Yeah, uh, not gonna happen, either, Irms!" said the Fire Guardian. "Roku's a Spirit."

"You mean he's dead? A dead guy told Aang not to help us, so he won't??" asked Irma.

"Yeah, that's basically it." confirmed Will.

"Aang told me about it." added Hay Lin. "Spirits live in the Spirit World, which is separate from our world."

"Hey, if a ghost told me to do something, I'd listen!" said Sokka. "But, in this case..."

"Sokka, you know Aang can't dishonor Avatar Roku's spirit by willfully disobeying him!" Katara chastised her brother. "No matter the cost."

"Excuse me, Katara, but I don't think Roku meant for Aang's promise to be a suicide pact!" argued Sokka.

"Hold on!" interrupted Irma. "Aang can't help us, the Guardians, right? But why can't he help you guys escape, and then you 'accidentally' cut our ropes while Aang's not looking?" she said, seeking a loophole.

"We thought of that!" said Cornelia. "But..."

"But I can't get free. At all." said Aang, finishing the thought.

"Why can't you go back to that Spirit World place and get help?" asked Will.

"Spirits can only travel to our world under certain conditions." explained Aang. "And even if they did, they'd have as little power here as I have in the Spirit World!"

"Huh?" said the confused Irma.

"No one can bend in the Spirit World." Aang clarified.

"Wonderful! Can things get a-" Irma began.

"Irma! Don't say it!" said the superstitious Taranee.

"There has to be some way out of this!" urged Will, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. "And we'll find it!"

Just then, Fire Lord Ozai walked in, with his retinue of guards and Prince Phobos by his side.

"Ah!" said the happy Fire Lord. "Traitors and rebels both!" he said, looking towards the upper reaches of the Wheel, where a silent, defeated Prince Zuko and disgraced brother Iroh were strapped in. "This is indeed a glorious day in Fire Nation history!"

"Now, only one task remains..." Ozai intoned, motioning to his personal guard. "Seize Prince Phobos!"

"Ha! Brilliant move, Ozai! It is just what I would have done!" said the Prince of Meridian, who then let fly balls that exploded into smoke, obscuring those in the room.

"Parlor tricks, magician?" laughed Ozai. "Truly, your reputation is undeserved!"

"We shall see." said the voice in the smoke. "Or, rather, you shall."

Then the smoke cleared, and an enraged Ozai ordered "There he is! Get him!!"

The baffled Phobos could only stare in shock as the Fire Nation soldiers rushed him, weapons at the ready.

"What are you doing, you fools? He's..." said the 'Prince of Meridian', before he was struck from behind and rendered unconscious!

"Put him up there with the rest of the traitors!" commanded the 'Fire Lord'.

In truth, it was Prince Phobos, glamoured as Fire Lord Ozai, and Ozai glamoured as the Prince.

And the 'Fire Lord' couldn't resist gloating to his old enemies.

"Hello again, Guardians! Soon, all of Meridian, and your Earth, along with this Earth, will be mine!" he bragged.

"Phobos? That is you, right? Your arrogance is a dead giveaway!" said the sarcastic Will. "Aren't you worried those soldiers will realize you're not the real Fire Lord?" she inquired.

"Ha! No. With the vast energies now at my command, my glamour is so powerful they only see and hear what I wish them to! But feel free to scream for help all you want! It's music to my ears!" said Phobos, enjoying the moment he's waited so long for: The Guardians at his mercy!

"Mind telling us what you've got planned? I'm sure you're dying to!" said the crafty Taranee, biding for time.

"Of course!" said Phobos, agreeing to the request of the doomed. "I had hoped to end your meddlesome lives forever in that 'Dream World' when your fears consumed you and your dream overwrote Prince Zuko's. Then I could have easily claimed the hostless Heart of Candracar for my own. But..."

"But you didn't count on Irma being right next to Zuko when he made that Dream World, so she was able to figure out what was going on and snap out of your spell to save us, did you?" said Taranee, taking the mighty Phobos down a peg or two!

"What are you babbling about? My fear spell was perfect, and should have worked on you all!" disputed Phobos. "No matter! My present plan is even better!" he boasted. "My Wheel gathers and concentrates elemental energy! Energy I will use to open a portal to my homeworld, and crush Elyon!"

"But what about the Veil between this world and the others? It's pretty strong. I felt it as I passed through." Will commented. "You must have experienced the same thing."

"No matter. With the addition of all of you to the Wheel, my magic is great enough to break down any barrier that stands in my way!" said Prince Phobos, glorying in his power. "The cursed Veil will finally fall!"

"You're going to break through the Veil??" said a worried Will. "No, you can't! The Oracle told us the Veil could only be breached at certain times, at certain points. It can't be smashed through like a wooden door! The, the magical feedback could be so strong that it..."

"Destroys the world?" offered the Prince. "Which is why I will test it on your home of Earth, first!"

"But, but this world!" gasped Will. "You could doom it, and yourself, too!"

"I think not! We are shielded here." responded Phobos. "As for the rest of this world. Oh well. But I thank you for your concern." he sneered, turning from the Guardians to take care of another matter.

"Phobos! Listen to me! You can't do this!" urged Will Vandom.

Then Phobos was gone.

"Oh. This is bad." said Will.

"He can't really do it, can he?" asked Hay Lin. "I mean, destroying the Veil? Even Phobos doesn't have power like that!"

"With all of us, including Aang the Avatar AND the Fire Lord, on this Wheel thing, which he said concentrates elemental energy, increasing it? Yeah, I think he could!" replied Taranee Cook.

"Then we're doomed?" worried the pessimistic Cornelia Hale. "Phobos has finally won?"

For once, Will had no words of comfort for her friends.

It was Fire Lord Ozai who surprisingly provided the only hope for our heroes.

"No. There is yet one who could defeat the dark magician." he said.

"You mean Azula??" said a shocked Sokka. "The fate of the world is in the hands of that...girl?" he added, tempering his words so as not to incur the wrath of the Fire Lord who, though bound to the Wheel like the rest of them, still inspired fear in the young warrior. "Go, Azula! I can't believe I just said that!"

When the Fire Lord-glamoured Prince Phobos returned a short time later, he reveled again in his power, and the fate of his foes. "What a glorious day! A pity you won't see it! When your energy is used up, you will dissipate. A tragic loss, I'm sure, but one you've long deserved for your never-ending interference in my affairs!" he sneered.

"Father?" said Princess Azula, who had just entered the room, to the 'Fire Lord'. "Who are you talking to?" she asked. Though Phobos' glamour had garbled his words, the Fire Nation Princess still could not understand why her dread Lord would deign to speak to the outworlder Guardians!

"Ah! Daughter! It is a wonderful day, indeed!" responded the 'Fire Lord'. "I was informing our enemies that, by sunset, they will be crushed beneath our heel and the Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, all of them, will cower in fear before the might of our Meridian allies!"

"Our...allies?" asked the perplexed Azula. She understood the gloating, but changing the great plan they had worked so hard on? "But, father, what of our master plan to re-make our world's elemental order and eliminate the Avatar?"

"Unfortunately, that plan had very little chance of success!" admitted 'Ozai'. "Prince Phobos' plan was much better!"

"Father, you cannot trust that foul magician!" barked the angry Princess.

"No...Of course not, daughter." Phobos hesitated. How he despised playing the fool Ozai, and taking such abuse from his churlish offspring! But the girl had instilled fear and obedience in the Fire Lord's soldiers, and thus was useful to his scheme! "At the proper time, when Phobos has outlived his usefulness, we will deal with him as he richly deserves! Until that time arises, you will obey my orders! Is that clear?" commanded the imperious 'Fire Lord'!

"Yes, father. By your command." she said, bowing in supplication.

Pleased everything was going his way, the glamoured Prince Phobos turned away from the Fire Lord's daughter.

Big mistake!

**ZAPPTTT**

"Arghh!" cried the Prince, his glamour undone by the furious electrical assault of the lightning bending prodigy!

Phobos fell to his knees, seemingly defeated!

"You almost fooled me, magician!" railed the angry Princess. "You had my father's appearance, his voice, his...attitude. But father would never ally himself with such as you! Now where is he? What have you done with the Fire Lord??" demanded Azula, electricity sparking out of her fingers.

"You weren't sure, when you struck me down, if I really was disguised as the Fire Lord, did you?" said Phobos, getting to his feet.

"You seal your own fate, sorcerous dog!" cried Azula, throwing lightning bolts at the Prince of Meridian as if she were the Greek God Zeus.

Unfortunately for Azula, the Prince's newly-conjured magical shield repelled the mighty bolts!

"Get him!!" the Princess ordered the Fire Nation soldiers in the room.

As the entire force of the Fire Nation army was brought to bear on one, solo Prince of Meridian, Phobos stood unbowed.

Nothing they did had any effect!

"I can appreciate such deviousness, Princess!" said the admiring Prince. "And it would please me to make you one of my generals!"

Phobos' power, augmented as it now was by all of the mighty benders and Guardians, was awesome! (He had obviously been holding back!) He raised his hand, and a beam of force issued forth that wrapped around the Princess and the soldiers, trapping them!

"N, never! I would never serve you!" spat the maddened Azula, who struggled in vain to free herself from Phobos' blacklight coils of necromantic energy.

"Yes. Ordinarily, I would make you my general." sighed Phobos. "But after Cedric's betrayal, I do believe I'm over the unhealthy compulsion to rely on overly ambitious fools! So, what to do with you?"

"Ah! I know!" he snapped his fingers, and then wove a spell.

Weird, multi-colored occult energies cascaded around the baffled Princess, heir to the Fire Lord. "What, what are you doing??" she cried.

"I believe the Earthers call it 'taking care of business'!" chortled the Prince. "You behaved in a piggish manner by striking down your liege, so...!"

When the glow of the magical energies faded, Azula was gone!

In her place was...a hogmonkey!

As the hogmonkey Princess bounded off, squealing (either because it was in distress or it wanted food. Hard to say with Fire Nation princesses metamorphosized into mud-wallowing, bug-eating porcine primates!), Phobos re-assumed his guise as Fire Lord Ozai, turned to the other captive Fire Nation soldiers and asked them, "You serve your Lord, do you not?"

Frightened beyond belief, confused, and with their minds affected by Phobos' dark magic, they eagerly complied.

"Okay, I l know everyone expects me to say it, so I will. Azula does look kind of cute as a hogmonkey! There! I said it!" wheezed Sokka, who could not believe the way this day was going.

"This Phobos guy can turn people into animals??" said the worried Avatar.

"We said he was bad news!" Taranee reminded him.

"Taranee, I can't believe you're doing an 'I told you so'!" Hay Lin said, sticking up for Aang and criticizing her friend.

"But I just said...!" replied Taranee.

"Guys! Stop fighting!" said the upset leader of the Guardians. "If we're going to have any chance at all to get out of this, we'll have to work together!"

"Sure, Will." agreed Cornelia. "But how?"

"As powerful as Phobos is now, the only way we can succeed is if we have the Heart." uttered the Energy Guardian, who was growing weaker by the minute. "Maybe, if there were some way to reach it?"

"But it's way up there!" Cornelia pointed out, as the Heart was situated on the upper level of the Wheel. "And Phobos has it behind some barrier!"

"But I don't think it's a physical barrier. It's a magical force field so we can't tap into its power!" reasoned Will. "If one of us could get free..."

"But we're trapped like flies in amber!" groaned Taranee. "And without our powers!"

"Wait! I have an idea!" exclaimed the preppy Cornelia.

"If one princess couldn't do it, I don't see how another could!" cracked the Water Guardian, half joking, half ticked off at the situation.

"Shush, Irma!" replied the blonde Earth Guardian. "Will, we've worried about what others might learn", she said, glancing in Prince Zuko's direction. "But what about us? We've picked up a few new tricks, too! Like the Avatar State?"

"But Aang said he wouldn't…" a tired Will began to say.

"Oh! I get it!" interjected the Water Guardian. "We form our own Avatar State! Without Aang! That's brilliant, Corny!"

"Hey, I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid!" said the cheerful Cornelia.

"Yeah, we are all of the elements." pondered Taranee. "And the energy surge from combining our powers could overload Phobos' magical bonds! It could work!"

"Do it, Will!" urged Hay Lin.

"Okay. Here goes!" said the Guardian leader, pausing to take a breath. "Quintessence!"

The Guardians' Auramere-fueled energies issued out of their bodies and joined together, creating a five-pointed star.

As the eldritch forces washed over them, the Guardians' clothes turned white.

The surge of energy strained at the girls' shackles, both sorcerous and solid.

Finally, after much struggle, the bonds broke!

Spent from their ordeal, the Avatar State fell away as the Guardians took a moment to recover.

Knowing time was short, Will ordered her fastest teammate to repossess the Heart of Candracar.

"Hay Lin!" gasped Will. "Get, get the Heart! Hurry!"

"On it, Will!" said Hay Lin as she flew upwards. "I've.." she said, as she reached for the Heart.

"Ahhh!" screamed Hay Lin, in pain, as a magical blast blew her out of the sky!

"Hay Lin!!" yelled Will and the others, before they, too, were cut down by Prince Phobos.

"An escape attempt?" raged the angry Phobos, as his Fire Nation lackeys again bound the incapacitated Guardians to the Wheel. "I don't know how you did that, but my patience is extremely limited! Now that I am in charge, an almost unlimited supply of elemental benders is at my command! So be warned: Your next escape attempt will be your last!" he said, as he resumed preparations for his greatest victory ever.

"N, now what?" choked Cornelia. "I don't suppose anyone else has a plan?"

"I don't know, Cornelia." said the dejected Taranee. "Maybe it's for the best it didn't work."

"Are you serious, Taranee??" said the stunned Irma. "You're giving up?"

"No." Taranee defended herself. "But I've been thinking...what would we have done if we got the Heart back?"

"That's easy!" answered Irma. "Kick Phobos' scrawny butt!"

"One on one? You saw the kind of power he has! He took us all down without breaking a sweat!" replied the Fire Guardian.

"Well, we could have folded back to our Earth!" suggested Hay Lin.

"But the threat is here!" analyzed Taranee. "Phobos is threatening every world with his insane 'break down the Veil' scheme!"

"We could call for help!" said Cornelia. "From Elyon, or the Regents of Earth."

"Yeah, but I think the Dream World was some kind of warning about that." said the worried Guardian of Fire. "I think that's how that world got so messed up! We called for help, then Phobos was about to destroy two worlds, so Will combined them."

"But that's crazy! The Dream World came from Zuko!" argued Irma.

"Hold on!" cautioned Will. "I think Tara has a point. I've been getting a skeevy feeling ever since I woke up on this thing! We have to be very careful in whatever we decide to do, or...things could get even worse!"

"I don't see how things could possibly get any worse than this!" bitched Irma. "Phobos taking over the world, or destroying it? So, what do we do?"

"I don't know! There has to be some way out of this! There has to be!" cried Will, almost at the end of her rope.

"Maybe you are not meant to win this battle." said the elderly gentleman lashed to the Wheel above the Guardians.

"Huh?" said Will, wondering who this guy is.

"Sometimes, to lose is to win." said the wise old man chained to Phobos' Wheel.

"What kind of fortune cookie mumbo jumbo is that?" said the annoyed Irma. "No offense, Hay Lin!"

"That...is my fool of a brother, Iroh." said the Fire Lord. "And a failure is all he's been, ever since his son died!"

"That's not fair!" exclaimed Toph. "He's a very good man! He helped me!"

"Um, begging your pardon, but you don't look like Iroh." commented Katara.

"The demon's handiwork!" seethed Iroh. "He altered my appearance so I would not warn my brother!"

"You came here...to warn me?" said the puzzled Ozai.

"Is that so hard to believe?" replied Iroh. "We are still family, are we not?"

As the others continued their discussion, Will thought about what Iroh said.

She thought long and hard.

Then, finally, she reached a conclusion.

_Guys! He's right!_ thought-cast Will to her teammates. _We do have to lose!_

_Will? Have you gone off the deep end? _thought-replied Cornelia.

_No! I know how we can win this! _thought Will, broadcasting her idea to the other Guardians.

_Wonderful!_

_Another of Will's crackerjack plans!_

_I'm sure that'll work, and won't go bellyup like all the rest!_

_As for me, I'm practicing my Meridian,_

_for when Phobos is proclaimed Emperor of the Universe!_

"_Yes, my Lord, I'd love to have the Mudslugs over for dinner._

_What's that, my Lord? They'll have me over for dinner? Well, that's okay._

_Wait, they'll have ME for dinner?? Noooooooo!"_

_Next:_

_The pulse-pounding, soul-searing conclusion to Act III: Water!_

_Everything hits the fan, as this part of our tale concludes!_

_(That's right, there's still more to come after this momentous event!)_

_And wait till you see what happens to…_

_I can't tell you too much. Don't want to give it away._

_Let's just say someone's not walking away from this!_

_Heh._

_But first:  
What's going on at the North Pole?_

Notes

Cornelia & Irma - the buddy action/comedy lives! Not that the buddy concept ever died, but we never got to see two Guardians teaming up in the series. It was always the five acting together. Sometimes they'd get some solo action, but we didn't have an episode focus on two of them joining together to solve a problem.

The Cornelia/Irma scenes kind of remind me of my favorite superhero team stories, where all the big guns of the team are taken down and their rescue is up to the group's small fry (literally small fry, in the case of the Atom) such as Atom or Green Arrow.

I bet you didn't expect Irma and Cornelia to take down those soldiers like that! Irma's plan all along! (Well, her backup plan, if they got captured). Their powers are good for rescues. One on one, fair fights, against much stronger opponents? No, they're not great at that. But sneaky, devious, never see it coming fights? They rule that area! Girlpower, whoo! Who needs Caleb, anyway? Okay, maybe they do, at least until they master that fighting-without-all-their-powers thing.

When Aang activates the Avatar State, he gains the power and experience of all his past lives. So what happens when the Guardians initiate their 'Avatar State'? Are they channeling past Guardians? I don't think so. The Guardians are a bit different from the Avatar (to be explained in Act IV: Air). I think it's more a case of combining their powers and reaching a higher level of power. Kind of like the Winx Club's convergence. But it only works on Aang's world (as far as I can tell right now). They did perform a sort of convergence in the finale of Season 1, when it appeared as if they combined their powers (with Elyon helping) to defeat Prince Phobos.

Why do the Guardian's clothes turn white when they do their Avatar State? White is purity, innocence. White is all the colors (energies) combined. And, in the East (Asia), which is Aang's world, white is the color of mourning and funerals. So it's a bit more ominous than it appears.

Many fics treat Phobos as weak, and a joke. I suppose he brings that upon himself by acting like such a ponce most of the time, but he's far from a joke. He may not appear all that threatening, but he's a real bad dude.

Phobos is a magic vampire. He's to magic what Bounty is to a spill. That is, he soaks it up like a sponge.

The Council of Candracar considered him to be so dangerous, they created the Veil to protect all of the other worlds from him.

And if the Veil is destroyed, he's free to travel wherever he wants and take all of their magic.


	50. Interlude 15: Meanwhile, at the N Pole

Interlude Fifteen: Meanwhile, at the North Pole

Black smoke trailed from ruined Fire Navy destroyers and contrasted sharply with the frigid, polar air, the dark soot of the Fire Nation's war engines befouling the clear, clean skies of the North Pole.

Though it appeared as if the Fire Navy had suffered another loss, the leaders of this expedition making their way through the frozen plains outside the far north stronghold of the Water Tribe were more than happy with recent events.

"So they bought it?" asked the higher-ranking officer.

"Yes, Admiral!" replied the aide. "And may I say, your 'son dying' was inspired!"

"Ha! General Iroh is good for something, after all! His tale of woe, of lifting the siege of Ba Sing Se because of the death of his son, is so well known, I knew they would be fooled!" laughed the Admiral. "That reminds me, Ping was exceptional as my 'dying son'! Give him that promotion he wanted, of weapons officer on Captain Gui's ship! He's earned it!"

"Yes, sir. And the peace offering was accepted by the Chief of the Water Tribe, so everything is going according to plan!" said the Admiral's aide.

"Wonderful! Soon, they'll be so dependent on what we can provide them, they'll beg us to work our coal mines for us, just to get more of our enticing products and technology! Praise the Fire Lord! His genius knows no limit!" sang the Admiral.

"Praise the Fire Lord!" mouthed the aide. "Sir, that does bring us to another matter. We're going to have to get a replacement for Ping."

"Ah. Ask Captain Fa to send another cabin assistant. He has a few extra sailors on his ship." replied the Admiral.

"Yes, sir." the aide complied.

As the two men trudged on through the Arctic wastes, the virgin, untouched snow behind them stirred.

Then a young girl dressed all in white emerged from the polar snowbank.

Minua!

Quickly, she raced to her home, and her leader, the Chief of the Water Tribe!

"Grandfather!" cried the girl, a term of affection for the old man, as he was not really her grandfather. "The Fire Nation is trying to trick us! They don't want peace!"

"Minua, child, calm down!" cautioned the Chief. "Do not upset the people!"

"But, grandfather, the Fire Nation! They're planning to..." she began.

"I know, Minua! Hush!" bade the wise leader of the Water Tribe. "I know the Fire Lord's deviousness knows no bounds! But the people are tired of war! They want peace. Even a peace such as this! And if our enemy asks for peace, we must give him a chance, no matter what we think of him. It is our way."

"Is it also our way to work their coal mines? Because that is what they intend!" snapped the young teen.

"Minua...Look around. We can not afford another war." said Chief Arnook, motioning to the damage wrought to the Water City by the recent battle. Though the ice buildings were mostly restored, debris and shrapnel still littered the watery boulevards. Far more injurious were the scars on the proud tribe's soul. The belief they were invulnerable, inviolate in their frozen fortress, had nearly expired in the wake of two attacks from the Fire Nation in as many years. "When Master Pakku journeyed to the South Pole to aid our brothers and sisters there, he took with him some of our most skilled water benders! We have to take the deal the Fire Nation is offering. It is for the good of all!"

"This never would have happened if the Fire Spirit had returned to us!" spat the angry 13-year old, fingering the betrothal necklace she had made herself, and that she had hoped to present to Zuko after he ended the war and came back to the North Pole, as he had promised.

"Minua, that was ever a thin hope. Now, please, granddaughter, let us work towards happier days ahead." he said, imploring her to release her anger.

"No!" she yelled, as she spun away from him and ran off. "He was going to save us, but you gave up!"

"Minua! Don't!" Chief Arnook called out.

He thought of chasing after her, but was stopped by his wife.

"Let her go, Arnook." she said. "She is young. Time will ease her mind."

"I hope so, my love." Arnook replied.

Minua hurried first to a Water Tribe storehouse, then to the Fire Navy command ship in the harbor, taking care not to be seen coming from the direction of the Water City.

Then she presented herself to the Admiral.

But she didn't look like a Water Tribe girl anymore.

She had donned one of the Fire Navy uniforms the Water Tribe used for infiltration of their enemy's forces.

Also, her betrothal necklace was gone from her neck.

But she kept it close by, in her pocket.

She felt it through the fabric of her pants as she, nervously, summoned her will for the task at hand and said, in her best Fire Nation accent, "Admiral, sir! Rong, reporting for duty!" while standing at attention, in perfect military formation.

Minua hoped and prayed the Admiral or his men would not notice her knees knocking together.

"Really?" said the curious Admiral. "And who might you be?"

"I am to be...your new cabin assistant. Captain..Fa sent me." Minua carefully answered, avoiding the Admiral's piercing gaze lest her nerves give herself away. "My name is Rong."

"Ah, yes. That name means 'martial'. Very strong. Good, yes." the Admiral replied, seemingly pleased with his new assistant.

Minua breathed a sigh of relief, and the air expelled from her puffed-out chest made her look two sizes smaller.

Then the Admiral looked at her again, and her chest grew with hungry gulps of air.

"Admiral, as Captain Fa anticipated our request, I will delete your order from his command packet. There is no need for him to send anyone else." advised the aide.

"Yes, yes, of course. Captain Fa is a sharp man." the admiral said to his advisor. "See that he gets a commendation placed in his file." Then, turning to 'Rong', his new cabin assistant, he said "I hope you have no problem with hard work! You'll get plenty of it here!"

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" replied 'Rong'.

"That will be all!" the Admiral said, dismissing her. Then he motioned to his aide "Show her to her duties aboard ship."

As the Fire Navy Admiral's ship sailed away from her Water Tribe home, Minua wondered if this would be the greatest adventure of her life...or the greatest mistake, of a too-short life.

_Things sure do look bad!_

_Terrible, even! Horrible!_

_Phobos has beaten everyone, and will probably destroy the world!_

_(And rule that which he doesn't destroy!)_

_Plus, Will thinks she can win by losing!_

_And young Minua is sailing with the Fire Navy!_

_Is there any hope left?_

_Well, in the words of the All-American Rejects,_

"_And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along, just to make it through!_

_When everything is wrong, we move along."_

_That's all I got._

_Pray._

_'Cause I don't think everyone's making it out of this one_.

_Next:_

_The finale to Act III: Water._

_Well-named, too, as Irma and Katara have a special role to p_lay.

Notes

Minua first appeared in Interlude 5: Zuko and Jet.


	51. Family Plot

Chapter 33: Family Plot

_Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself._

- Elie Wiesel

_The family endures because it offers the truth of mortality and immortality within the same group. The family endures because, better than the commune, kibbutz, or classroom, it seems to individualize and socialize its children, to make us feel at the same time unique and yet joined to all humanity, accepted as is and yet challenged to grow, loved unconditionally and yet propelled by greater expectations. Only in the family can so many extremes be reconciled and synthesized. Only in the family do we have a lifetime in which to do it._

- Letty Cottin Pogrebin

_All power corrupts, but we need the electricity._

- Anonymous

After Will laid out the basics of the Guardians' plan to defeat Phobos and gain their freedom from his elemental Wheel, the reaction of Aang and the others was…less than unanimous.

"Has that lightning bending gotten to your brain?" said the incredulous Sokka. "That has to be the worst thing I've ever heard!"

"You can't do that!" insisted Aang. "We can't trust him!"

"Aang and Sokka have a point." said Katara. "There has to be a better way out of this...than putting all our hope in the Fire Lord!"

"I don't like it either!" replied Will. "But we have no choice! He's the closest to the Heart of Candracar! None of us can reach it in time! Plus, after Phobos is defeated, our problem will be the Fire Nation. This way, we get guaranteed safe passage out, and both our problems are solved!"

"If we can believe a word he says!" railed Sokka. "And with Aang right here, who the Fire Lord has been after since day one, I'd say that's a mighty big if!"

"You think me lacking in honor, boy?" said the irked Fire Lord Ozai.

"Did I say that? Can I rephrase? What I meant was..." said the backpedaling Water Tribe boy.

"Look, it doesn't matter. We Guardians have made our decision!" said the Energy Guardian, ending the argument. "We're going to help the Fire Lord get free and beat Phobos! We don't have time to come up with anything else! Phobos could rip open the Veil and destroy everything any minute! If any of you have a better plan, I'd love to hear it!"

There was only silence in response to Will's request.

"Okay, so we'll do our own Avatar State again," began the Guardians' leader, "then we'll direct our energy up above to free Fire Lord Ozai. Then he'll grab the Heart and..."

"No." said Prince Zuko, in an emotionless monotone. "He doesn't deserve it."

The Guardians and Aang and the rest were shocked!

Not just by what Zuko said, or even in the way he said it, but by the fact he said anything at all!

The young Prince hadn't spoken a word in the entire time they were there.

Plus, the Guardians were doubly concerned that this could derail their whole plan!

_Guys, what do we do? _thought the frantic Taranee. _If Zuko denies Ozai access to the Heart, we're finished!_

_Then we'll just have to convince him not to do that! _thought the crafty Cornelia. _Right, Irma?_

_Me? Why me? Oh. Never mind. _thought-replied Irma Lair.

_Yeah, after being on this Wheel thing as long as he has, his will must be pretty low. So you can probably walk in his head and make him do whatever you want! _reasoned Will Vandom, their tactical commander.

_I get it! Sheesh! Just...let me handle it, okay? _thought Irma, annoyed that the entire success or failure of their mission now depended on her.

"Zuko..." Irma called out to the banished Fire Nation Prince, who was disowned by his own father.

"What do you want?" grumbled Zuko.

"We need your help." said Irma.

At that, a dismissive noise erupted from the Prince's throat.

"I know we haven't exactly gotten along..." continued Irma.

"Huh." muttered Prince Zuko.

"...and I personally did things that hurt you. But you have to forget all that! Phobos is going to destroy the world! Is that what your friend Shen would want?" argued Irma.

"Shen is dead!" cried Prince Zuko. "So the rest of you can go..."

"Zuko...nephew." consoled Iroh.

"Leave me alone." said the despondent Prince.

"But that's not true!" Irma declared.

_Uh, Luke, why have you turned off your targeting computer? _thought-asked the confused Cornelia Hale. _Irma, I'm not feeling any mind-zapping!_

_Maybe because the force is with me? _thought-replied the Water Guardian. Irma had never invaded the mind of someone in such a miserable state. It made her feel uncomfortable. _Let me try it my way, okay?_

_But this is too important! If... _thought Cornelia.

_It's okay, Irma. _thought Will. _Do what you think best._

_Thanks, Will. _thought Irma, happy for the support.

"Your friend Shen is alive, Zuko!" said Irma to the Prince.

"You lie!" replied the hurt Fire Nation boy, recalling the words of Iroh, who warned Zuko not to trust the Guardians. "I saw Shen die in my arms!"

"No!! That was another one of Phobos' tricks!" exclaimed Irma. "Shen was severely injured, but he was still alive. We healed him and sent him on his way."

"It's true." added Katara. "I was there. I helped heal him."

"No. It can't be. I saw..." said the puzzled Prince, trying to reconcile everything he saw and heard that day with what he was being told now.

"Shen told us the way you are now, hunting the Avatar and grabbing power, isn't the real you. That you changed after you lost your mother." said the surprisingly compassionate Irma.

_How would she know that? _ thought the Prince. _Is it possible she's telling the truth?_

"Shen said the two of you used to have such fun together when you vacationed at Fire Lakes. I can't guarantee everything will be that way again, but to even have a chance at that, we need you to let Ozai have the Heart." bade the Water Guardian.

Then Zuko remembered the 'Iroh ' who warned him about the Guardians was from that dream, and wasn't real.

It wasn't Iroh at all in that 'dream world'! It was Zuko's own, anger-filled voice talking back to him!

"After all this is over, we can even lead you to your friend, Shen. We know where he is." stated Irma, putting the cherry on top of her quite forceful case. "So what do you say? Deal?"

"Okay. Lord Ozai can have the Heart." uttered Prince Zuko.

"Pathetic." said the Fire Lord, who could scarce believe he had sired such a weak-willed whelp.

Zuko's anger burned at this!

"Nephew! Let it go!" cautioned Uncle Iroh. "Let Ozai have the power! You will gain so much more!"

Zuko's eyes briefly glared with fervor, then dimmed.

"Yes, Uncle. You're right." said the whipped Prince Zuko.

"To give up so easily? Even Ursa would be ashamed!" said the Fire Lord, mentioning Zuko's mother. "But it is for the best. You could never handle that power properly!"

Zuko was enraged!

_How dare he? _ fumed the teen Prince.

Even wise old Uncle Iroh could not tame the fires burning in Zuko's soul this time!

No, it would take another.

"What is the matter with you?" Katara screamed at Fire Lord Ozai. "Haven't you done enough to him? And you call yourself a father? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Struck that someone outside his family would dare say anything about it, Ozai could only offer a meek defense. "It is...not your concern, girl."

"Zuko, don't listen to him!" urged the Water Tribe girl. "He doesn't know the first thing about fatherhood, about family! You're not pathetic! You're, actually, one of the strongest persons I've ever met! Don't let him do that to you! Your scar is not you! It's not a symbol of your failure! It marks his failure, Lord Ozai's failure!"

"Katara...what?" Aang wondered.

"Not now, Aang. Please." Katara replied. How could she explain how she felt? She and Sokka and Aang had always hated Zuko, but after all she learned about him (including that he liked her), she didn't know what to think anymore. But Katara knew Ozai's conduct was outrageous, and he deserved to be called on it.

"I...Thank you." was all Zuko could manage to spit out.

_Why is she sticking up for me? _ The question roiled his thoughts.

Stunned that someone, an enemy even, could see worth in him, Zuko's soul eased, and his spine stiffened.

"Now you let a Water Tribe girl defend you?" needled Ozai. "Bah!"

"Shut up, father." Zuko said, in a surprisingly calm, self-assured voice.

"Now that the soap opera is over," Will interjected, "we should get down to the whole saving the world thing!"

Will then detailed the scheme to all those roped to Phobos' elemental Wheel.

"We Guardians will direct our Avatar State energy upwards, to loosen the Fire Lord's bonds." said Will. Then the Fire Lord has to quickly grab the Heart of Candracar, before Phobos can react!"

"Then...and this is key," Will emphasized, "he has to combine with the power of the Heart, the dragon, and become his element."

"Why must I do that?" asked Ozai.

"Because then you will be at the very zenith of your power, and strong enough to stop Phobos! We'd do it ourselves, but we need the Heart to achieve this state," Will lied, "and we can't get to it."

As the Guardians' Avatar State-powered energy blast clumsily tore at the magical bonds on the upper level of the Wheel, where the Heart was encased behind a mystical barrier, with the two quarreling fire benders, Ozai and Zuko, on opposite sides of it, Zuko's restraints were loosened along with the Fire Lord's.

And all Zuko could think about were Will's words. He ran them over and over in his mind.

_...combine with the power of the Heart...become his element...very zenith of power..._

"No!!" Zuko shouted at his father. "You don't deserve power like that!" he said, as he broke free and lunged for the Heart of Candracar.

"Zuko! No!" Will yelled.

"Stop!" Irma screamed.

"Don't do it!" exclaimed Taranee.

"Nephew! No!" pleaded Uncle Iroh. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing, Uncle!" Zuko declared, Heart securely in hand, after felling Lord Ozai with a fire blast that sent him soaring into a wall!

Unconscious, the dread Fire Lord fell to the floor in a crumbled heap.

"Heart...combine with me! Combine with the dragon! Become...fire!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Oh, no!" cried Will, as Prince Zuko transformed.

Zuko became a thing entirely composed of fire itself!

The flames he was made of were so hot, he burned the part of the Wheel he stood on!

"Yes...Now this is power!" said the literally fiery Fire Nation Prince, hovering in the air.

"What are you doing now??" demanded Prince Phobos, upon running into the room. "I'll...What??" he said, as he spied the flying fire elemental.

Fire Zuko casually tossed a fireball at the Meridian Prince, but Phobos parried it easily.

"Is that the best you can do?" goaded Phobos.

"No." replied the Fire known as Zuko.

The now Fire God for real sent massive fireball after fireball at the dark Prince in an attempt to punch through Phobos' mystical defense shield.

Will, directing what remained of their Avatar State power, used it to free her and the other Guardians.

Then, though weakened from their efforts, the Guardians scrambled to free the others lashed to the Wheel!

Phobos' magical globe of energy held, causing Zuko to re-double his efforts.

The Fire Prince 'turned up the heat'! Though all of his vast energy was aimed at the devious Meridianite, the temperature rise in the room was so great Taranee erected a fire wall which she and the others, even the now-captive Ozai, hid behind.

Timbers on the wall burst into flame!

The stone beneath their feet melted!

With the Fire Nation soldiers and Palace guards having long since abandoned their posts in an attempt to save their skins, the near-empty Palace of the Fire Lord was consumed in the conflagration, so massive were the fiery energies unleashed by the unrestrained Prince of the Fire Nation!

It was as if the sky had birthed a new sun, so intense was the heat and light given off by the Fire God!

And still Phobos was unbowed!

Taranee, though, was starting to feel the strain of absorbing so much raw, naked fire power!

"I...don't know...how much longer..I can.." she gasped, as she struggled to maintain her fireshield.

"You have to, Tara!" Will told her friend.

"You can do it, Taranee!" encouraged the other Guardians.

The only thing that saved them was that Zuko was not throwing his power directly at them!

If he had, the Guardians, Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Iroh, even Ozai, would not have survived!

Fire Zuko, heedless of the peril he put everyone in, focused on his task - to crush Prince Phobos!

He called on all of the power of the dragon, and sent the whole of it at the merciless Meridianite!

Phobos, his source of power gone now that the Wheel was destroyed, was close to expending all of his purloined power.

Yet he still stood against Zuko! He would not let a mere boy beat him!

Desperately, he sent waves of sorcerous might at Fire God Zuko!

Zuko was pushed back, but quickly recovered and pressed the attack.

The Guardians, though, were not faring as well.

Taranee's knees buckled!

Her face awash in sweat!

Licks of flame erupted from Taranee's skin, as she was quickly losing the ability to block Zuko's fire!

Even if Fire Zuko succeeded in ending the threat of Phobos, they would never make it out alive!

Unless...

"Everyone! Join hands! We have to combine our power and give it to Taranee!" ordered Will.

The Guardians, even Toph, Katara and Sokka, quickly complied.

One, however, hesitated.

"Aang?" Katara said, her eyes making a silent plea.

Which was answered, when Aang's hand grasped hers. Katara smiled, and Aang brightened in reply.

Even the recalcitrant Ozai, quickly enchained in rock by Toph, opened his hand when his older brother Iroh gave him 'the stare'.

"We're all with you, Tara!" Will told her beloved comrade.

And it was true.

Strengthened by the love and support of those around her, Taranee rose up and reinforced the decaying fireshield!

"Ahhhh!" she screamed, as all of her power was brought to bear on saving her friends!

Phobos, with naught but his stolen mystical power to keep him safe, a power rapidly failing, decided on the better (though for him, worse) part of valor.

He ran!

"Some other time, Guardians!" said the perspiring Prince of Meridian, who was finally feeling the effects of Zuko's intense firebombing, the sweat dripping from his pores even though encased in his magical shield, as he vanished from sight!

With Phobos no longer there to sustain it, his mystical sphere shattered under Zuko's assault.

"What happened?" Will asked Taranee, the glare from the Zuko-Phobos fight so bright she could barely make out the two opponents.

"Phobos rabbited! The coward fled!" spat the angry Fire Guardian, eyes aflame, who maintained the fireshield until she determined it was safe to lower it.

"Which means he's still a problem!" commented Will.

"He's not our only one!" said Cornelia, pointing to Prince Zuko, who had flown off to pound the Fire Nation's military forces into the dust.

Soaring into the air, Fire Zuko easily spotted the mighty Fire Nation army's weapons and munitions storehouses.

He quickly reduced them to slag!

Then Fire God Zuko set off for the shipyards and harbor, and decimated the Fire Navy fleet, including the last submarine the Fire Nation possessed!

The sailors barely had time to leap to safety in the water, before Zuko sent ship after ship to the bottom of the sea!

Flying back to the ruined Palace of the Fire Lord, Zuko reveled in his victory.

"I did it!" he said. "I ended the war! Now the world will know peace...The peace of the Fire God!"

The people cheered!

They called his name.

"Zuko! Fire Lord Zuko!" they shouted.

Iroh tried to give him a hug, but had to keep his arms at a distance as Zuko was still made of fire.

"I'm so proud of you, Prince, I mean Fire Lord, Zuko!" said Uncle.

"I always knew you could do it, Zuko!" said his friend and cousin, Shen.

Even his father, Ozai, was happy for his success.

All of which pleased him. But there was one person whose opinion he especially desired.

"I did it, Mom! I did it all for you!" said Zuko, losing his fire aspect and regaining his human form, as he called to the woman in the shadows who gave him birth.

Strolling forward out of the mists, Ursa greeted her scar-free boy with a loving embrace. "Thank you, my son! I knew you would never give up! You always keep fighting, no matter how difficult!" she said. Then Ursa placed the crown of the Fire Lord upon the child she loved so much she sacrificed her own happiness for him.

But Zuko, son of Ozai and Ursa, had forgotten the last words his mother had said to him: "Never forget who you are."

Lost in a dream inside what was left of his mind, of his humanity, and with no one else there to remind him who he really was, Zuko created his own world.

The reality, however, was much different.

There were no cheering throngs.

There were no beaming parents, or proud relatives.

There was only...one very sad old man.

"W, what happened to him?" cried Uncle Iroh, as he stared at the hovering figure of fire that was previously his nephew, Prince Zuko.

"He...combined with the dragon...and lost his humanity. I'm so sorry!" said the melancholic Guardian leader. "The only way I know to get him out of that is if he hears the voice of someone who loves him! If there was anything I could do, I would."

"Haven't you done enough?" said the upset Iroh. "Zuko? Nephew?" he called out to the lost boy he considered like a son.

"Yeah. I think we have." said the despondent Will Vandom.

_If we had never come to this world, none of this would have happened! _ she thought.

"It's not your fault, Will!" said Taranee, trying to cheer up her friend.

"Sure. Makes me feel lots better!" replied the sarcastic leader of the Guardians.

"If there's anyone at fault here, it's me!" said the depressed Irma. "If I would have done like Corny said, and mind-blasted him..."

"No, Irma! You did the right thing!" insisted Will, her friend's distress bringing her out of her own funk.

"I always do. So why does it always come out wrong?" wondered the pensive Irma Lair.

Before anyone could truly consider what Irma meant, Katara ran towards the teen consumed by his element of fire.

"I can help him!" she exclaimed, as she uncorked her vial of Spirit Oasis water.

But as she was about to use the special healing waters on the fiery form of Prince Zuko, a Guardian knocked the vial out of her hand!

Irma!

"Stop, Katara!" yelled Irma, her swing sending the Spirit Oasis water to the floor...and one other place.

"What are you doing? What's wrong with you??" Katara demanded to know why the Water Guardian had interrupted her act of mercy.

"Me?" said the baffled Irma Lair. "What are you doing?"

"Look!" she said, as she placed some of her own water near Zuko's being, composed entirely of fire. The water boiled away. "That's what would have happened if you tried to use that Spirit Oasis water! You would have lost it forever!"

"Oh. Thanks, Irma." said the Water Tribe girl, grateful for being prevented from making a mistake, but upset with herself for almost wasting the important healing liquid.

Katara quickly bent the spilled Spirit water back into its vial, but neglected to absorb the drops that fell on Irma in her act of salvation.

In fact, the Spirit drops that fell on Irma went unnoticed by all.

_Perhaps it's for the best I didn't use the Spirit water_, Katara told herself, as she watched the elderly Fire Nation general try to talk his beloved nephew out of the state he got himself into. _I'll probably need it later!_

_All creatures possess the ability to heal themselves...if given the chance. _Katara remembered her words, and so very much wanted to believe they were true.

Katara then fixed her gaze on the Fire Lord.

Though still a captive of the Guardians and Aang's gang, the infuriating fire bender...smirked.

"You just couldn't leave Zuko alone, could you? You're a terrible person!" she lectured the Fire Lord.

"I only sought to make him strong!" argued Ozai. "It was your mewling compassion that made him weak! He deserves his fate!"

"You monster!" said the maddened water bender, who was thisclose to throttling the Fire Lord!

However...

"Let it go, Katara! He's not worth it!" said Irma, holding the enraged Water Tribe girl back.

"Are you really angry because of what happened to Prince Zuko?" teased Lord Ozai. "Or because I didn't fall into your trap, and clear the way for your precious Avatar to meddle in other nations' affairs?"

"Well, pal, the way I see it, there's family, and then there's whatever you have! Enjoy the hogmonkey!" said the acerbic Miss Lair, scoring a direct hit in the zinger department! "Come on, Katara, we're getting out of here!"

"Go?" Sokka said, befuddled. "But we've got the Fire Lord beat! Why leave now?"

"Avatar Roku said I had to defeat the Fire Lord in battle, Sokka!" Aang clarified. "As long as we're free, we'll make that battle a time and place of our choosing! Not anyone else's!"

"Plus, Aang still needs to learn fire bending." Katara pointed out.

"But, but..." Sokka moaned, really bothered by the fact they'll have to go through this yet again in the future. "Awwwwww!"

As Aang saddled up Appa, who was found safe in an underground bunker (Momo by his side), the Guardians prepared to leave the Fire Nation behind.

"Time to go." Will said, picking up the long lost Heart of Candracar, abandoned by Zuko when he became one with the dragon of fire. "I think we've all had enough, and really don't want to face the Fire Nation when they re-group!" she said, as she prepared to use the Heart for the first time in way too long.

"What are you going to do, Will?" asked Irma. "Tele-transport us?"

"No. There's too many of us. And I'm not familiar enough with this world to do that." Will answered. "I'm going to fold back to our world, then open another fold back to the Earth Kingdom."

"But what about the Veil? Didn't you say it was pretty strong, and separated us when we came here?" asked the concerned Hay Lin.

"Which is why the first thing I'm going to do is open a communication link to Meridian." Will explained. "I'll tell Elyon about Phobos, then have her anchor us a path through the Veil!"

"You're going to talk to Elyon?" said the excited Cornelia, as Elyon was her oldest friend.

As Hay Lin, Cornelia and Irma crowded around their leader, one Guardian, who had sat down to rest after her arduous efforts, was almost forgotten.

"Hey, guys! Wait!" Taranee called to her friends. "I want to talk to Elyon, too! I...Huh?" Taranee looked down. Her foot was stuck under a warped, wooden floorboard. "Just be..a sec!" she said, as she struggled to free her foot.

As the Fire Guardian's foot popped out, a portal was opened and, with a WHOOSH, the other four Guardians...were gone!

As Taranee stared at the empty air that a moment ago hosted a portal that sucked her compatriots into it, she only had four words for the situation. "Oh no. Not again!"

_Next:_

_Act IV: Air_

_Our final act, in which the Guardians learn about themselves,_

_the secrets of Aang's world, and the Avatar's connection with W.I.T.C.H.!_

_But it won't be easy. In fact, someone may not make it!_

_It begins when the Guardians find themselves in the Spirit World!_

_They're in a lot of trouble, too, as there's a war going on!_

_But guess who isn't concerned? Cornelia!_

_That girl! What is she, half-psycho or something?_

_Plus: Caleb makes an appearance! Swear to God! (Heh! It makes me giggle!)_

_Taranee, Aang and the others will be back later._

Notes

The title, Family Plot, is also the name of Alfred Hitchcock's last movie, a thriller about scheming family members and a fake psychic. Haven't seen it, but it's a good title. It's a way to refocus on the theme of Act III: Water, which is family.

Irma's hard luck continues, and its not over yet! She still blames herself for her past mistakes, and she's going to face more trials in the future, until she...well, keep reading!

In Z is for Zenith, the Guardians became one with the Four Dragons and the nymph Xin Jing.

"If we know anything, it's that Zuko never gives up!" - Sokka, Siege of the North, Part 2.

So true.

Zuko's stronger than the girls, so he actually retains some part of himself, whereas the Guardians (in Z is for Zenith) had a hard time remembering who they were. But Zuko mistakenly holds on to his idealized, Dream World self instead of his real self, and he doesn't have anyone there to steer him onto the right track, like the girls had each other in Z is for Zenith, or like Zuko had others (particularly Irma) in the Dream World in Chapters 28 & 29 to set him straight. He's all by himself, having rejected both his real family (his father Ozai and Uncle Iroh) and the offer of family from Irma and Katara.

Why doesn't Zuko hear Iroh? That will be explored later.

Aang doesn't break his vow to Avatar Roku. He only lends the Guardians moral support. Taranee can draw on the power of the other Guardians, but not on the benders.

Tele-transportation is known as transposition in the comics, and all of the Guardians can do it. (Yan Lin can do it in the cartoon, but she spent years practicing).

This was originally the big finale to the story, with a wrap-up chapter/epilogue to follow, but the tale became so big, plus I realized I had a lot more to say, that I added a whole 'nother act! But Act IV Air should be shorter than Act II Earth or Act III Water.


	52. War in the Spirit World

Act IV: Air

_Air is the element of freedom._

_The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom._

- Iroh, "Bitter Work"

Chapter 34: War in the Spirit World

Will Vandom looked around.

She had no idea where she was!

The sky, the landscape, everything looked strange! It was all bizarre colors!

The sky was yellow, with a haze hanging in the air that sometimes made it look golden yellow.

The ground was scarlet, the soil almost as red as the planet Mars, with giant bonsai and banyan trees scattered around pools of clear, shallow water.

This wasn't the green and blue Earth she called home, or rainbow Meridian, or even purple Zamballah!

Where the heck was she?

But even worse, most of her friends were missing!

Hay Lin was beside her, but she was the only one!

She instinctively reached for the Heart of Candracar. She hoped to use it to locate her friends, or even to get the heck out of there! But finding her friends was paramount to her.

Then Hay Lin jumped her!

"Will! Look out!" the Air Guardian yelled, pushing her aside.

Immediately after Will crashed to the forest floor, Hay Lin on top of her, an armored man on ostrichhorseback, who looked like an ancient Earth Kingdom soldier, galloped past their position. Followed by many more!

Then the forest came alive!

Tiny beings that looked like unrooted plants with stems for feet, insects with human arms and/or legs, and acorns with faces, raced/rolled towards them, fleeing for their lives, in obvious terror of the horseback soldiers!

Trying to escape, they ran over Will and Hay Lin, causing the girls to shout out!

"Hey! Stop it!" Will cried.

The soldiers heard the Guardian, and halted their ostrichhorses.

Then they rode back, advancing on Will and Hay Lin's position trot by trot.

The tiny creatures yelled, then screamed some more!

"Uh oh." Will said, which was quite an understatement.

Meanwhile, Irma and Cornelia, stuck in a place that looked similar to Will and Hay Lin's neck of the woods, except with many rocky outcroppings, wondered much the same thing as the other two Guardians.

Where were they, and where were their friends?

But for them, additional questions arose.

Such as, 'How do you adjust the reception on this thing'?

For they had stumbled onto a tiny portal to their world, a sort of interdimensional TV on a rock, that allowed them to look in on other places.

Cornelia saw herself, in Sheffield Institute, their school, taking a test she had no recollection of.

"What is going on?" Cornelia Hale said. "I don't remember this! This didn't happen!"

"Yeah, I know." said Irma, gazing at the school scene. "I can't believe you'd wear that top! Your parents must have been out of town!"

"Yeah, ha ha, Irma! That's a Divenchy original, from my closet, and I don't wear it to school! That's for...Never mind!" snapped Corny.

"Hanging out at the teen club?" guessed Irma.

"Try more upscale." suggested Cornelia.

"Corny! You sly old dog!" laughed Irma.

"Hey, I just go to those places with the other ice skaters! I have to do something when Caleb's not around!" she explained. "And dancing isn't cheating!"

"Does Caleb know that?" asked Irma.

"MInd your own beeswax, Irma Lair!" cautioned Cornelia.

Then the scene shifted.

It changed to...Elyon and Caleb!

"OmiGod! Look!" said the excited Miss Hale.

"What? It's not all-Corny TV, all the time? Hooray!" jeered Irma, who was getting a little tired of Cornelia being the center of attention and Queen of the Universe wherever she went.

"Hey, wait...It's Elyon and Caleb...with you??" said Irma, staring at the small portal 'screen'. "Wait, don't tell me, yet another thing that 'didn't happen'?"

"Shush! This one's got sound!" said Cornelia, motioning for her friend to be quiet.

"You made this astral drop out of a lock of Cornelia's hair?" said the bemused Caleb to the Queen of Meridian. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"Oh sure! Just never needed too! I could have used old skin cells, you know, dust, but that was too gross!" Elyon pointed out. "With the girls gone so long, we had to do something! The Oracle says they'll be back, but until they do..."

"Yeah. It kills me we can't do anything about that!" replied the somber, former rebel leader.

"I know! But we have to trust that they're okay, and safe." said the Meridian Queen.

"Elyon!!" Cornelia screamed, banging on the portal 'TV'. "Caleb!! We're here!"

But the two Meridianites continued their conversation, as if it were a recording.

"Why is the astral drop so quiet and still?" asked Caleb.

"It's not a real astral drop." Elyon clarified. "It was made from her cells, so it looks like her, but you'll have to teach it to be Cornelia!"

"How do I do that?" Caleb pondered.

"I don't know! Tell it...tell her why you love her. That ought to fill in some gaps!" suggested Elyon. "I have to go take care of the other drops!" she added, leaving the room.

"Why do I love you?" Caleb reiterated. "Let's see...Ahem."

He thought about it.

_Really_ thought about it!

"Can you believe this?" Cornelia squealed. "He's going to tell me why he loves me! It's every girl's dream!"

"Except he's really telling some soulless thing that happens to look like you! Which, admittedly, isn't too far off the mark, so I suppose..." joked Irma.

"Oh, stop it, Irma!" Cornelia mildly scolded the Water Guardian. "You know you want to hear what he says, too!"

"Hmm. I suppose it is better than the typical reality TV show." Irma grudgingly admitted.

"Cornelia." began Caleb. "I love you so much! I love that..."

Just then, the picture and sound faded, and the rock was an ordinary rock once again.

"No!! You can't do this to me!" screamed Cornelia Hale.

Then a Great White Egret flew overhead, riding a breeze.

Also wafting in on the breeze was a strange voice that chilled Cornelia's and Irma's soul (but especially Cornelia's), because it filled the air with a foreboding for three people they knew...

_Elyon..._

"What? Is that an echo?" Irma asked.

_Will..._

"That's no echo!" replied Cornelia.

_Lillian..._

"Oh no." said Cornelia, upon hearing the name of her sister, the Heart of Earth.

In fact, all three were hearts of some sort.

Elyon was the Heart of Meridian. And Will possessed the Heart of Candracar.

The thought that their friends (and sister) were in some sort of trouble filled their own hearts with dread.

Back in the swampy forest, the ancient Asian soldiers astride ostrichhorses had spotted Will and Hay Lin and spurred their mounts onward in an attempt to run the girls down and capture them!

"He-yaa!" they yelled, cracking their hands on the sides of the ostriches.

"Stop right there!" commanded Will. "Or I'll..." But Will's hands emitted nary a spark.

"I'll get them, Will!" said Hay Lin, crouching slightly as she prepared to spin around like a tornado.

Except nothing happened. There was no air movement around Hay Lin. She stayed rooted to the spot!

"Huh?" she said.

"Our powers don't work!" exclaimed Will.

"Oh no!" cried Hay Lin, as the soldiers bore down on them!

"We can't stay here!" yelled Will. "We've got to...!"

Then Will jumped up.

And stayed up.

"What the? My wings work??" said the puzzled Guardian, floating in the air.

"Of course!" she said, almost slapping herself for being so dumb. "When I'm like this, my wings are a part of me! For them not to function, it'd be like my arm not moving! And that means...Hay Lin! Take cover! I got this!"

"But what can you do, without your powers?" asked the baffled Hay Lin.

"No time! Stay safe! Now!!" ordered Will, steeling herself for the harsh battle she knew was coming.

As Hay Lin ducked for cover, the lead ostrichhorse soldier raised his sword and prepared to run it through the Guardian leader hanging in the air in front of him!

But Will flew up at the last second, then somersaulted through the air and extended her arms so that her hands grabbed the soldier's helmet. Then she gave it a yank and tossed him off his horse!

Now standing on the back of the rider-less ostrich, Will watched as two other soldiers galloped alongside and tried to cleave her in two!

Will leaped up to avoid their deadly blows, then arced gracefully behind them. When she finally alighted, it was with her boots on the head of one of the soldiers.

She kicked downward.

_Repeatedly!_

**WHAP WHAP WHAP WHAP**

Went Will's pounding feet on the man's crown!

The ostrichhorse soldier became so addled, he fell off his horse!

Riderless and directionless, the ostrich veered into the path of the other soldier's ostrich, causing a collision that unseated the third soldier!

The five remaining soldiers vowed to take no chances with this prey!

They jumped off their horses and advanced on Will, weapons at the ready. Including a net!

Will easily avoided their clumsy trap and flew up...

...Right into the sights of another soldier who had climbed into the trees!

He leapt at her!

Will narrowly escaped his clutches, then flew to the top of the tree, and started jumping from treetop to treetop, hoping to lead the vicious soldiers away from Hay Lin.

The tree-climber followed! He swung from tree to tree, sword carried in his mouth!

Will saw him shadowing her, then flew downwards in arc that propelled her into the man's chest!

Out of breath, he fell to the swampy floor!

But Will had taken her eye off of the soldiers on the ground!

Quickly, they got their net around her and pulled her down into the crimson dirt!

Will didn't even attempt to lift herself up. The force of four men holding her down was too great to overcome.

Instead, she vibrated her wings like a buzzsaw and dug down into the soil!

The resulting dustcloud was so great, the men all exploded in coughing fits!

When the dust settled, they noticed, to their puzzling dismay, their net now lay around some large rock!

The prize they sought was gone!

Well, almost.

Will leapt onto the head of the soldier closest to her, her foot falls turning her opponent's brain into mush!

When another warrior charged her, she jumped off the soldier she was attacking and slammed a booted leg into his back!

The man fell forward, right into his oncoming compatriot! Both fell to the ground, defeated!

Will repeated this strategy with the final two warriors.

She jumped onto one soldier's head and pounded his helmet. Again and again! This way, she wouldn't have to engage the man's deadly sword-carrying arm or chain-mailed fist. She had effectively neutralized his combat advantage, while maximizing her own, that of flight.

The soldier's fellow warrior didn't see it that way.

He sliced at her everytime she placed her feet onto the soldier's head.

And everytime, Will leapt up, avoiding the deadly strike!

Until the warrior got careless, and hit his fellow soldier instead!

Shocked at his mistake, he hesitated.

And Will toppled the now-unconscious soldier onto the warrior, sending him to la-la land also!

"Wow!" said the stunned Hay Lin, running to the side of her triumphant friend. "How 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Will'! How'd you learn to fight like that?"

"When we became Guardians, my powers weren't that great, so I trained in combat fighting with some of the Meridian warriors." Will explained. "Then, after the Veil was lifted and I got my energy powers, I figured I couldn't always rely on the Super Guardian thing, so I continued my training."

"Oh. I just...kind of rely on my Super Guardian powers! Heh." admitted a sheepish Hay Lin.

"We can talk about it later. Let's get out of here!" replied Will Vandom.

As the girls exited the scene of battle, an odd figure flew in circles above them.

But this was no Great White Egret.

It was a strange beast with the head and wings of a hawk...the body of a dolphin (!)...and the powerful, grasping feet and claws of an armadillo! An extremely rare tribrid, indeed!

Equipped as it was, the tribrid HawkDolphDillo was a creature that could go anywhere - air, land or sea!

And, once there, see and hear all that occurred!

The perfect guardian to watch over this benighted land.

Or the perfect spy!

Meantime, at those rocky outcroppings, a girl sprang out from behind a giant, multi-limbed tree!

"You have to run! Save yourself!" yelled the girl with long, white hair.

"Wait! Who are you?" Cornelia called out to the unknown female. "What is this place?"

"There's no time! They're coming! Flee!" replied the frantic maiden.

Then the girl jumped into a pool of water!

And disappeared!

"Ho-kay! Now I've seen everything!" said the mystified Irma Lair.

"Hold on! Long, white hair? A platinum blonde?? Nobody has hair like that on the Avatar's world!" shouted Cornelia. "Except..." she added, in a much quieter tone, then shouted "...Yue! Sokka's old girlfriend!"

"Huh?" said the puzzled Irma. "But he said she's a Spirit!"

Then both girls exclaimed "We're in the Spirit World!!"

"Uh oh! That's not good!" said Irma.

"Why?" asked Corny.

"Remember what Aang said?" added Irma. "There's no bending in the Spirit World!"

Then the two powerless Guardians heard the thunder of horses' hooves approaching.

They turned, to behold a line of ancient Earth Kingdom warriors sitting atop a fleet of ostrichhorses!

"Halt!" they commanded.

"One guess what Yue was running from?" said Cornelia.

"And us without our powers!" chimed in Irma. "Ulp!"

Will and Hay Lin, meanwhile had scarcely left the area of their fight with the ancient warriors when they were accosted yet again - by the little creatures who had gotten them into trouble in the first place!

"There she is!" yelled one of the walking plants. "Get her!!" he demanded of his little friends.

"Hey!! What are you doing??" said the stunned Will, as she and Hay Lin were assaulted by the mobile plants, human/insect hybrids and rolling nuts with facial features. "We helped you! We stopped those soldiers from attacking you!"

"You don't fool us!" said the leader of the tiny band of weird creatures, as he brandished a twig he used as a spear to poke at Will. "You look like the other one who tried to destroy us!"

"What are you talking about??" said the harried Will, as she shielded her eyes from the tiny pebbles thrown at her by her assailants with one hand, while she used the other to sweep the bizarre, lilliputian mob off of her.

Hay Lin tried to aid her leader, but when she did the Air Guardian also came under attack by the mighty mites!

Beating feet to escape the madness, Will and Hay Lin took off, leaving their aggressors behind!

"They won't get far!" declared the walking weed. "Shui She will take care of them!"

"What now, Will?" Hay Lin asked her friend, the head of their little band of heroes.

The two Guardians ran through the murky mangrove swamp, splashing the shallow puddles of water that were all over the swamp's floor while avoiding the deeper pools of clear liquid.

"I don't know! I wish I knew where we were! This isn't like any other place we've been before!" Will replied.

"Well, they seem to know us! Or you, at least!" added Hay Lin.

"Yeah, that was pretty strange!" said Will. "But at least we got awayaaa!" said the Guardian leader, as sinewy scales coiled around her!

"Ahhh! Unhh!" gasped Will, as she struggled to free herself from the crushing folds of serpentine skin!

"Omigosh! It's a snake!" cried Hay Lin, who rushed to free Will from the reptile's powerful embrace! "Hold on, Will! I'll..."

Then the snake hissed at the young Asian girl, and drew ever more of his body out of the pool of water.

Hay Lin looked up. She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing!

"How, how big is this thing??" said the shocked Guardian of Air, taken back at the sheer size and length of the water snake. There had to be about 30 feet between the part that held Will and the pond it came from!

Then the reptile's eyes locked on the young Air Guardian, and she briefly considered fleeing.

But Hay Lin stood her ground, stood by her friend...and was soon entrapped by the twisting serpent's body!

"Unff!" said Hay Lin, fighting to get free of the mighty reptile. "You know, I can't say as I hate any animals, but I'm really starting to not like snakes!" exclaimed the Air Guardian, making a reference to their old shape-shifting foe, Cedric.

"Don't...worry, Hay Lin. We'll...get out of this. If I...can reach the Heart." said Will Vandom, struggling against the mighty serpent's stranglehold on her body, her hand inching towards the fabled Heart of Candracar.

"Uh uh!" uttered the little walking plant, who stood on the shoulders of his tiny compatriots to talk to Will.

"You again! What...do you want?" asked the annoyed Guardian leader, who desired nothing more at that moment than to get free of the snake so she could punt the irritating veggie to the other side of the swamp.

"I wanted...to do this! Pfoo!" said the plant, as he blew sleeppollen on Will's face.

"Huh? Uhhhh..." said Will, who then passed out, her body slumped over and limp.

As the Earth Kingdom soldiers menaced Irma and Cornelia, drawing ever nearer on their fearsome ostrichhorses, salvation arrived!

"Away, ruffians! Hee-ya!" bellowed an Earth Kingdom warrior in gleaming armor, astride an ostrichhorse in equally shining attire, as he rode in and challenged the other ostrichhorse soldiers to a duel.

His quick, slashing swordwork forced the other soldiers away from the power-challenged Guardians!

Faced with one who could fight back, the cowardly soldiers retreated!

Then the dashing warrior turned towards Cornelia. "Are you uninjured, milady?"

"Uh, yes." answered the stunned Earth Guardian. This was the last thing she expected! But it was hardly unwelcome.

"Then let us be away!" said the courageous (and handsome!) Earth Kingdom warrior, extending his hand to the girl Guardian. "It is not safe to stay here! My name's Kangxi!"

"Cornelia. Hi." replied the Guardian of Earth. Cornelia eagerly took the warrior's offered hand, and he easily picked her up and deposited her on the ostrich's back behind him.

Before he could order his ostrichhorse to depart, Cornelia piped up. "Wait! What about my friend?" she said, pointing to Irma.

"Eh?" said the very surprised Kangxi. "The sour girl is with one as sweet as you?" he laughed.

Irma steamed at the insult! But she didn't say anything.

"Oh no, she's usually not like that! She's actually fun to be around! Most of the time!" replied Cornelia.

"For you, milady? Anything!" said the smiling Kangxi. Then he motioned to his aide, who the two girls realized was another Earth Kingdom warrior hovering nearby. "Excuse me a moment, ladies." he said, as he unseated himself from his ostrichhorse.

"Sure." said the demure Guardian of Earth.

Kangxi conferenced privately with his associate, Puyi.

"There was only to be the golden-haired one, Kangxi." Puyi whispered.

"It matters not. We still have our mission." Kangxi responded. "So take the girl."

"You'll have to forgive Puyi." Kangxi announced with a grin to the two girls. "He's not used to passengers!" he added, as Puyi helped Irma onto the back of his ostrichhorse.

As the four new friends made tracks, Cornelia had a question or two.

"What's going on? Why did those men attack us?" she asked Kangxi.

"Our land is very unsettled!" Kangxi replied. "There is unrest everywhere, but my master intends to bring peace to our special world!"

"Your world?" said Corny. "You mean the Spirit World?"

"Yes." answered Kangxi. "Ordinarily, it is a wonderful place, but there are those who sow dissent and discord, and must be stopped!"

"Do you think you can help us find our friends?" Cornelia inquired.

"My master has much knowledge about the Spirit World, and many resources! I'm sure he can help locate your friends, if they're here in our world!" Kangxi assured her.

Then the four came upon another squadron of rebellious warriors.

"Wait here, milady!" said Kangxi, letting Cornelia off his ostrichhorse. "Apparently, I must teach another band of rebels a lesson! Fear not. I won't let them take you!"

"Be careful!" Cornelia yelled to the brave warrior as he rode off, soon joined by his comrade in battle, Puyi.

"Corny, we have to get out of here!" Irma begged her friend. "It's not safe!"

"Don't worry, Irma! Kangxi can handle these guys!" retorted Cornelia.

"No! I don't trust him!" exclaimed the Water Guardian.

"What are you talking about?" Cornelia angrily hissed. "He saved us!"

"I'm getting a bad vibe off of that Kangxi guy and his friend!" Irma explained. "I think we should try to find Will and the others, not go off with the first good-looking guy who comes along!"

"What are you saying, Irma?" Cornelia bitched. "That I can't be faithful to Caleb?"

"No! Just that we have to get out of here!" said Irma, urging her friend to leave with her.

"I'm not going anywhere!" said Cornelia, who would not be moved.

"Corny, will you quit fighting me? Let's go!" said Irma, pulling on Cornelia's robe.

"No!" said the haughty girl, crossing her arms in defiance.

"I'm sorry I said anything about you and Caleb! Okay?" Irma apologized. Then she used both arms to move her friend. "Now let's..."

Unfortunately, the two girls happened to be on one of those rocky outcroppings.

And it began to give way.

"...go?" said Irma, as the ground under them crumbled due to their combined weight.

"Ahhhhh!!" they both yelled as they fell down, down, down to the valley below.

_Oh no!_

_Will and Hay Lin captured,_

_while Irma and Cornelia fall to an uncertain fate!_

_So what's coming up…_

_Next:_

_A chapter entitled "My Dinner with Wan Shi Tong"_

_(Because "My Time in a Jail Cell with Hay Lin" is a terrible title!)_

_wherein we learn more secrets of the Spirit World,_

_the origin of the Avatar,_

_the Avatar's connection to W.I.T.C.H.,_

_the secret of the Swamp, and more!_

_We also learn that my main owl WST was quite the playa in his day, yo!_

_But don't worry! Corny's not gonna make out with the giant owl!_

_She might be acting a little scatter-brained lately, but she's not that far gone!_

_Sheesh!_

_Then Avatar Roku pops his bearded head in, which totally ticks off Will!_

_Plus:_

_Find out more about the first Spirits (Hei Bai, Koh, Tui, La, etc. etc.),_

_who I've dubbed 'The Spirit Squad'!_

Notes

_Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon _is a martial arts movie/Chinese love story that has characters fly through the air when they fight, plus they run through the treetops. But since Will has wings and can really fly, it's only natural she'd learn combat techniques that made the best use of that ability. In fact, she appeared to do just that in Season One of W.I.T.C.H., before her energy powers fully developed in Season Two. If you go back and watch, you'll notice Will did a lot of combat fighting while flying around the battlefield, although there she usually had a few tools/weapons available to her, and here she has none.

I know this is more Irma & Cornelia duo action, but I can't seem to break them up! Together, they're too much fun!

In the next chapter, you'll see the Will/Hay Lin team (which is kind of a joke, really).

Shui She - Chinese for, literally, 'water snake'. The snake that is said to encircle the world. It's rumored to have another pair of eyes at its midsection, and another head at its end, but no one has ever seen either. No one really knows just how long it is.

The Spirit Warriors (Kangxi & Puyi) are named after Chinese Emperors. In fact, all of the Spirit Warriors are named after some historical figure. The Earth King in Avatar, Kuei, is based, at least in part, on Kangxi. Puyi was the last Emperor of China, and Kangxi was China's longest-serving Emperor.

The Spirit Warriors were last seen in this tale in another form. They were the Terracotta Warriors in Chapter 27.


	53. My Dinner With Wan Shi Tong

**Author's Note: This chapter was getting a bit long, so I split it in two, which means the super-ultra-mega development is in the next chapter! But this chapter ain't nothing to sneeze at! It's got the origin of the Avatar, the Avatar's connection to the Guardians, the early days of the Spirits, new Spirits, the secret of the Swamp, why earth benders can't bend plants, and more! To prevent confusion, flashbacks are in italics, centered, and in chronological order (mostly).**

_Previously, on W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar…_

_"Avatar Wen Tao didn't turn people into terracotta clay to end the First War Between Nations! He used bending to end that war!" Aang informed all assembled. "Quo Jin built a Spirit Army to invade the Spirit World, so the Spirits gave Wen Tao the power to turn them into clay! Then everyone assumed they were funeral gifts, and Wen didn't bother to correct them, because he didn't want to worry anyone! Later, the Earth Spirits buried the tomb in an earthquake!"_

_"Invade the Spirit World with a Spirit Army? That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard!" scoffed the Tour Guide._

_"Earth King Quo Jin was obsessed with stories about the Spirit World! He thought he could lead it like Xin Jing did!" answered Aang. "He was nuts!"_

_"The stories about Xin Jing and the Spirit World are just bedtime stories! Nothing more!" Aang insisted._

Chapter 35: My Dinner With Wan Shi Tong

(Note: This occurs before Avatar Episode 2-10, The Library)

"Ahhhhh!!!" yelled Cornelia and Irma, as they fell down, down, down the side of a mountain in the Spirit World.

Then...

Fate intervened!

Corny grabbed a branch growing out of the mountain and, with her other free hand, snagged Irma before she went splat on the ground below!

(Or was it fate after all? Could it have been another's intervention?)

But fate, or non-fate, couldn't do everything.

"Geez! Arm feels like...pulled it out of its socket!" Cornelia gasped, the limb with which she saved her fellow Guardian hanging precariously from her body.

"Corny! Don't you dare drop me!" yelled Irma.

"What have you...been eating?" Cornelia Hale wheezed, as she struggled to hold onto her friend.

"Me?? You're the one with the weird cravings for..." Irma began.

However, unable to bear her companion's weight anymore, Cornelia let go...

...and Irma fell!

"Ahhh!" screamed Irma.

"Oh no! Irma!" Cornelia cried.

The young water elemental fell all of five feet.

"Oof!" said Irma, as she landed on her butt.

"How about that? We were just above the ground!" said a relieved Guardian of Earth, jumping down to the canyon floor.

"You dropped me!!" said the put out Water Guardian, rubbing her tender backside.

"Give it a rest, Irma! No harm done!" said the surprisingly confident earth elemental, as she extended her hand to help her BFF to her feet. "Now, what were you saying about my cravings?"

"What?" replied Irma, a bit amazed that, here they were, in the Spirit World, with no idea where their friends are, and yet the vain Cornelia would rather start some silly argument? Not that Irma was averse to taking that bait! "You eat blue ice cream!" spat Irma.

"So? Blue Moon is just another flavor!" challenged Cornelia, as they journeyed out of the canyon.

"That isn't available where we live! You fly it in!" Irma shot back.

"I had some when I went with my Dad on his business trip to the Midwest, and liked it! Plus, FedPS will deliver anywhere! Big deal!" Cornelia explained.

"I still say it's weird!" Irma retorted.

"Hold on." said Cornelia, putting her hand in front of Irma to stop her.

"What? See someone else you'd rather be with?" said Irma Lair, who was still irked Cornelia would blindly follow some stranger instead of listening to one of her oldest friends.

"No. Look!" Cornelia said, pointing out something in the distance.

Though the area appeared to be a wasteland, devoid of all life, there was something there.

"A house?" Irma wondered, squinting her eyes. "Whatever, it's got to be better than your knight in grey armor!" said Irma, she of the acid tongue.

"Kangxi's armor was a dark silver!" defended Cornelia. "Why are you so mistrustful? Just because your dad's a cop, you think everyone's a crook!"

"Not everyone! Just guys like that!" yelped Irma.

As they drew closer to the structure, Irma and Cornelia saw it wasn't a house.

They weren't sure what it was!

It was big and square, rather blocky-looking, like a storehouse, or a bank...or a mausoleum!

And, though a desert surrounded them and the building, there was one patch of earth where something grew.

"Huh." said Cornelia, bending on one knee to examine the plant life. "It's daffodils. Like back in the forest in the Earth Kingdom." she mused.

"What are you doing in my garden?" demanded a very stern voice.

Looking up, Cornelia and Irma were shocked to discover the voice belonged to...

...A giant owl!

Meanwhile, Will Vandom struggled to regain consciousness.

"Uhhh." was the sound that escaped her lips.

But when Will finally did come to, she thought she was still dreaming.

She - and Hay Lin - were tied up, and being carried on a cart of some kind into a strange-looking town that appeared to have been put together by a child, a child who then had a fit and knocked it down!

The buildings looked sort of like an emperor's palace, with grand stairways leading to a central structure with multiple columns and double slanted roofs, but there were way too many steps and doors and arches. There were steps and stairways all over the place, like someone had liked the design, so they repeated it over and over, but in a space way too small for it. Plus, there were waterfalls in the middle of the buildings that came from nowhere! (There was no mountain, or stream, behind the waterfall. Where did the water come from?) And, in front of the buildings, upside-down fountains balanced on right-side up fountains! It looked insane!

And if it looked insane when it was all in one piece, how would it be described if a tornado tore it apart?

'Cause that's how it looked now.

It was ruined, with huge chunks of some of the buildings lying in the street!

Big holes in the rest of the remaining structures!

_What the heck happened here? _thought Will.

Then her captors, an odd assortment of some of the most peculiar creatures ever, who looked to Will as if God had taken a holiday and his lowly subordinates decided to take Part A from one animal and graft it onto Part B from another, with Parts C & D from the vegetable and mineral worlds thrown in for good measure, lifted her and Hay Lin from the cart and announced their intentions.

"We've got the ones who caused all this!" yelled one of the bizarre denizens of this land.

"Let's show 'er what we do with their kind!" screamed another.

Will didn't like the sound of that!

But she couldn't do anything about it at the moment!

The Heart was gone!

"Get the Mayor!" exclaimed one of the crowd. Will recognized it as the little tree thing that knocked her out. "He'll take care of her, and her little friend, too!"

Then one of the creatures, who looked like a walking piece of furniture, spoke up, and said the strangest thing. "She...she looks like Xin Jing!"

And he was pointing at Hay Lin when he said it!

"No, no, my friend, you're mistaken!" said a being with the head of an eagle, and the body of...a rat? "That isn't her."

"I was Xin Jing's chair! I saw her a lot! And I'm telling you, that girl looks like our cre-ghk!" uttered the little chair, before he was silenced by the monstrous snake that captured Will and Hay Lin.

Having gotten the message, the now-quiet seat limped away.

It was the ancient Xin Jing who created the Heart of Candracar! (On Will's world, at least).

_Taranee said there was a Xin Jing on this world, and things happened differently here. _thought Will Vandom. _But how different?_

Then Will's attention was diverted yet again.

"It's the Mayor! He's here!" said one of the odd creatures.

Will eyed the Mayor. He was some sort of...pig crossed with a...groundhog?

"Use the Staff of Jade on them, Mr. Mayor!" urged another hybrid.

"Here you go, Mr. Mayor! You better take this!" said the tiny walking tree, handing a small magical sack to the Mayor.

_The Heart of Candracar must be in there! _thought the Energy Guardian.

"Now do your stuff!" yelled one of the mob.

"Yeah!" demanded others.

The crowd was out for blood!

And Will and Hay Lin were powerless to stop them!

Mayor GroundPig gulped.

He liked the job when he got it. Of course, back then, he liked just about anything that didn't include dying!

The small mammal was once a simple groundpig, scrounging for food, when he happened upon that old human sitting in some weird position (which he later learned was the lotus position). The old man paid the groundpig no heed, so the mammal happily went about scarfing down some of the old man's food when...

...The old guy fell on him!

The ancient human died right on top of him, crushing him and sending him to the other side, too!

Turns out, the guy was a guru, and had been meditating for years to accumulate enough spiritual energy to ascend to the Spirit World upon his death.

Except, when he died, and took the groundpig with him, the groundpig absorbed all of the spiritual energy, sending him to the Spirit World instead!

The populace of the Spirit World were so impressed that a simple groundpig had ascended! They figured he must one of the wisest of the wise, and quickly elected him their leader. Along with the title went the Staff of Jade, making him the protector of their world.

If they only knew!

The Staff shifted nervously in the groundpig's hand. The Mayor never had to use it before.

And, luckily, wouldn't have to now.

A bluish-green ball of light sailed through the air, heralding the arrival of...

Avatar Roku!

"Hold, Mr, Mayor!" intoned the solemn former Avatar, materializing out of a patch of dirt. "Do we not have laws? If these two are to be punished for any transgressions, should they not be found guilty first?"

"They are guilty!" bellowed one of the maddened crowd. "They're the cause of our troubles!"

"Punish them!!" screamed others.

"Wait, my people!" said the diplomatic Mayor, motioning for the crowd to be at ease. "Avatar Roku is right! If these two outworlders are guilty of crimes, their guilt shall be determined in a trial!"

"Whoo!" the groundpig wheezed, wiping his brow of sweat, relieved he didn't have to act.

"Avatar Roku! We're so lucky you happened along when you did! I tried to stop them but the people wouldn't listen to reason!" said the eaglerat named Ying Lao.

"Yes, I'm sure you did, Ying Lao." Avatar Roku sarcastically replied, indicating he knew the eaglerat really served the evil one, true architect of all the troubles in the Spirit World. Roku then acknowledged the rat's reptillian companion, the evil one's enforcer. "Shui She."

The snake merely hissed in reply.

"You're Avatar Roku??" Will angrily spat. "You're the one who told Aang not to help us, nearly causing Phobos to destroy everything!"

"Aang had his duties, as you did yours. You did not need his help." Roku flatly stated.

"What kind of game are you playing, Roku?" Will demanded. "What's going on?"

"Gratitude is the expected response when one is spared a lynching." Roku dryly replied.

Will bit her tongue. What he said was true, but the way in which Roku said and did things made the Guardian of Energy see red!

Just then the Mayor ordered Will and Hay Lin to be detained while preparations for the trial commenced.

"Take them to the holding area." said Mayor GroundPig.

"This isn't over!" declared Will.

"Perhaps you will find enlightenment as you ready your defense." said the wily former Avatar.

"What the heck does that mean?" said the ticked off Will, as she and Hay Lin were locked away in a small room.

Meantime, back at the building in the desert, Cornelia and Irma were about to make the acquaintance of a very large and very sour owl.

"Ohh!" said the momentarily startled Earth Guardian. "We're sorry, sir! We didn't mean to trespass! I didn't expect to see a garden way out here, that's all."

"You..." was all the Great Owl managed to utter upon seeing who his uninvited guest was.

And he continued to stare for moments afterward, a stare broken only by a brief flicker of eyelids, as if he had trouble believing his own eyes.

It was Irma who broke the silence.

"Yeah, uh, we'll just be moving along! Sorry to bother you! Come on, Corny!" said Irma to her friend.

The Owl Spirit quickly glanced around, then changed his demeanor.

"Please forgive my rudeness." said the apologetic Owl. "I don't get many visitors. I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things."

"That's okay, sir. We understand. Goodbye." said the polite Cornelia.

The two girls turned to leave, but the Owl had other ideas.

"I wish to make amends for my rash action. Please accept my offer of hospitality and join me for tea?" offered the now-charming Wan Shi Tong.

"I don't know. We have to find our friends..." said Cornelia, thinking it over.

"Let's get out of here, Corny!" Irma pleaded with her companion. "This guy is freaking me out!"

"You say that about everyone!" scoffed Cornelia Hale. Then she asked the Owl Spirit "You said your name was Wan Shi Tong?"

"Yes, that is correct. I am the Knowledge Spirit." he answered. "And you are?"

"I'm Cornelia. This is my friend, Irma." chirped the Earth Guardian. "Could you excuse us for a sec?"

Recalling the spirit's name, Cornelia conferred with Irma in private. "Don't you remember what Taranee told us? Wan Shi Tong helped her find Will when she was trapped in Ba Sing Se!"

"Okay, but Taranee also said he wasn't very nice! So why's he being Mr. Friendly Spirit now?" countered Irma Lair.

"He's just being polite! Taranee probably caught him on a bad day! Whatever, we can't pass up a chance to find Will, Taranee and Hay Lin!" argued Cornelia, who won the debate on logic points alone.

Irma grudgingly accompanied Cornelia and Wan Shi Tong inside his house for tea.

Except it wasn't a house. Not really. It was an annex to his Spirit Library, which was still in the physical world, and filled to the brim with scrolls and maps and knowledge of all type and description!

"Geez! I wouldn't want to be the maid in this place!" Irma joked.

"Sir, I must warn you, there are roving bands of armed men out there!" cautioned Cornelia. "Are you sure you're safe here?"

Wan Shi Tong smiled.

"Your concern is touching." replied the Knowledge Spirit. "No one will bother us here. Besides, I have my own defenses. Ladies?"

Irma and Cornelia's ears pricked up at that comment. Was he asking them to do something?

"Who? Us?" said the confused Irma.

Then the two Guardians saw a pair of foxes trot into the drawing room on padded feet.

"These are my assistants. They will keep watch, and warn of any trouble!" said Wan Shi Tong, as the foxes took up their posts outside.

"Foxes as assistants! Not too shabby!" admired Irma.

"How do you like your tea?" asked Wan Shi Tong, withdrawing to an alcove to prepare the liquid refreshment.

"Well, I usually have chai tea when I visit CafeTeara back home." said Cornelia.

"I'll have iced tea!" announced Irma.

"Irma, he's not going to have iced tea!" chided Cornelia. "That's a modern invention!"

"Well, I don't know that! Do I look like a tea expert?" said the defensive Irma.

"I'm afraid I don't have any of those fanciful concoctions." Wan Shi Tong informed the girls. "Only black, oolong and green tea."

"Oh, he'll have chai tea! I'm a tea expert!" teased Irma, imitating her companion's voice. Cornelia glared at the Water Guardian.

"Although I believe my foxes picked up a special blend of jasmine tea the last time we were in the Earth Kingdom." added Wan Shi Tong.

"That would be lovely, sir!" said the well-mannered Earth girl Guardian.

"That tea would be out back. Please excuse me for a moment." said the Knowledge Spirit.

"Take your time!" said Cornelia.

"Now that he's gone, Cornelia, I have to tell you he was looking at you in a funny way. He was really giving you the eye back there!" said the concerned Irma Lair.

"Irma, he's a giant owl with huge peepers! So of course he's going to give everything the eye! Haven't you ever seen real owls before? They're always staring at things!" Cornelia rationalized.

"Not like that!" Irma retorted. "Wannie acted like he recognized you!"

"That's just silly!" replied Cornelia. "We've never met! Although, now that I think about it, maybe Taranee mentioned us to him."

"Why would she do that?" argued Irma. "Taranee said she was in and out of his library, that he didn't want her to stick around!"

"Maybe Tara left some things out of her story! I don't know!" said Corny, trying to make sense of it all.

"Hold on, he's coming back!" barked Irma.

"Normally I require a gift of knowledge for those seeking information, but I believe we can dispense with that as we're only having tea!" announced the gracious host, Spirit Wan Shi Tong, as he served the girls their tea.

"Actually, sir, we are here seeking knowledge. We're trying to find our friends!" Cornelia told the Spirit of Knowledge, between sips of her tea. "Although we don't have any scrolls with us, but Taranee said that was okay, that you take oral knowledge, too."

"Taranee? Oh yes, Taranee Cook! Smart girl. You know her?" Wan Shi Tong replied.

"She's our friend. One of the three we're trying to find." Irma chimed in. "But I am curious why you didn't invite her for tea." said the sharp-tongued girl.

"Irma..." Cornelia scolded her big-mouthed friend.

"Oh, that! I was rather busy when she arrived, and the fire aspect of her made me quite nervous, what with all of my important papers lying about! Far more than you see here! This is only my annex. My main library is in the Earth Kingdom, and it's rather vast!" explained Wan Shi Tong. "I couldn't risk losing any of it!"

"See, Irma! I told you there was a perfectly good explanation!" said Cornelia, happy to be proven correct and even happier to rub it in.

"Hmph!" Irma erupted in reply.

"So, if I were to offer you information on your friend's whereabouts, what do you have to offer me in return?" asked the clever Wan Shi Tong.

"Well, I did memorize the periodic table of the elements for science class!" boasted number one suck-up student Cornelia (the new science teacher was cute, after all!). Cornelia then recited the periodic table. "There's hydrogen, then helium, lithium, beryllium, ..." she began.

Cornelia droned on and on, listing every element!

Irma struggled to stay awake, but Wan Shi Tong was enraptured!

"...And then there's uranium. The rest are artificial. I can give you those, too, if you want!" said the pleased as punch Guardian girl.

"I think that's enough, Corny!" said the irritated Irma. "We didn't come here for a science lecture!"

"How wonderful!" said the impressed Knowledge Spirit. "And you?" he asked Irma. "What knowledge do you have to exchange?"

"Hmm. I know my multiplication tables!" said straight C student Irma. "Wait, I can't remember all of them! Oh! I know! Watch this!"

Irma proceeded to rub her tea spoon and then stick it to her forehead.

"Ta-da!" she exclaimed with a sincere pride, arms extended in presentation, the spoon hanging off her head.

Cornelia was embarrassed enough for the both of them!

"Charming." commented the droll Wan Shi Tong. "So," continued the Spirit of Knowledge, "you seek Taranee Cook and...the one called Will Vandom?" he asked, recalling who Taranee searched for.

"Yes!" squealed Cornelia. "And Hay Lin!"

"Ah. Perhaps you should tell me more about them." requested Wan Shi Tong.

"Okay, well, Taranee you already met..." began Cornelia.

"And Will's got red hair! That's rare around here, right?" interjected Irma.

"Plus, Hay Lin has air powers! That's mega-rare! It shouldn't be hard to find them! They kind of stand out!" said the bubbly Guardian of Earth.

"I see." said Wan Shi Tong, considering his next words very carefully. "I haven't heard of anyone like that here in the Spirit World, but I could take you to the Earth Kingdom and send out my foxes to search for them."

"Really? You'd do that? That'd be awesome!" said the excited Cornelia.

"Except the last place we saw them was in the Fire Nation." the skeptical Irma pointed out.

"I said the Earth Kingdom because that's where my library is, and where I met your friend." the Spirit explained. "Whatever were you doing in the savage Fire Nation?"

"Trying to stop a guy named Phobos from destroying two worlds! Nothing much!" said Irma, beaming with pride.

"That is truly fascinating! You must tell me of all your adventures!" said the curious Spirit.

"Phobos is pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as the last kook we faced!" said Irma. "Nerissa! Now there was a fruitcake! She tried to take over the whole universe!"

**CRASH!!**

Went Wan Shi Tong's teacup, smashing into tiny pieces on the floor.

At that same moment, worlds away and yet close as a thought (distance doesn't really exist in the Spirit World, nor does time. It's all a matter of perception), Will and Hay Lin explored their 'jail cell'.

"What is this place?" Will asked no one in particular. "It looks like...a bedroom?" she said, spying the bed and dresser and table in the room.

"I'm guessing they don't get a lot of prisoners!" Hay Lin commented.

"So. Hay Lin. Just me and you." said Will, attempting to make conversation. "You know, we don't get a chance to talk much. Usually, the other girls are around."

"Yeah. I know what you mean." the Air Guardian replied.

"So, uh, what's going on with you? Still doing the art thing?" Will politely asked.

"Uh huh. You still on the swim team?" Hay Lin retorted.

"Yep." said the slightly uncomfortable Will Vandom.

_Awkward silence_

"So, uh, still going out with Matt?" Hay Lin asked.

"Yep. How about you? Still with Eric?" Will responded.

"Will, you saw him with me that day we got the message about Phobos!" Hay Lin replied.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." said the sheepish Energy Guardian.

_Uncomfortable silence_

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Will interjected. "Matt's band is going on tour this summer, so me and Taranee were thinking of joining them, since Nigel, Taranee's boyfriend, is part of the band, too! We were gonna surprise you guys later with the news, but, might as well tell you now, right?"

"Going on tour? For the whole summer! Sounds like fun!" said the excited Hay Lin. Then reality intruded. "Oh. Wait. I'm going to have to ask my parents."

"Oh yeah. Sure. Of course." Will deadpanned, then she absent-mindedly kicked at the dustballs on the floor.

_Really uncomfortable silence_

"We've got to get out of here, or I'll go insane!" announced the leader of the Guardians.

"Way ahead of you, Will!" said the Guardian of Air, as she tore at the door with her bare hands.

"You're wasting your time!" said...somebody in the room with them.

Back at Wan Shi Tong's Spirit Library annex, the Knowledge Spirit was cleaning up after his little accident.

"I'll get that for you, sir!" said the helpful Cornelia, stooping to pick up the little pieces of the broken tea cup.

"No, that's okay. You don't have to do that!" said the gracious Wan Sh Tong "You are my guest, after all."

"I don't mind!" replied Cornelia. "Why don't you get yourself another cup of tea?"

Then Wan Shi Tong spied something odd about Cornelia.

A patch of light green, in her hair!

He stood transfixed for a moment, nervous and unsure of what to do.

Then the patch of color was gone, and so was he, to his tea preparation area to make another cup.

His odd behavior caused Irma to get even more suspicious, so she followed him (at a discreet distance, of course)!

To her surprise, the Owl Spirit was talking to someone!

"No, I haven't forgotten our agreement!" bellowed Wan Shi Tong. "This was totally unexpected! Don't blame this on me! No, I'll do my part! But tell your master he had better come through on his end! Now begone!"

Except, no one was there!

Returning to the drawing room ahead of the Knowledge Spirit, Irma had words for Cornelia she did not want to hear!

"Corny, this spirit's got a few screws loose! He talks to himself!" said the Water Guardian. "No, worse, he argues with himself!"

"Irma, he's a Spirit! He could have been talking to another Spirit! They're not like people!" retorted Cornelia. "And I can't believe you would eavesdrop on our host!"

"His behavior is too strange!" Irma shot back. "And did you notice how anxious he was to take you somewhere? Just like Kangxi!" said the Guardian of Water, referring to the warrior they met previously.

"Irma, give it a rest!" said the agitated Earth Guardian, tired of Irma's constant complaints and issues with anyone they meet. "I've had it with your paranoia! Just leave it alone!"

"Paranoid??" said the hurt Irma. "Sure, why not?" she dared. "I should stop looking out for you! You obviously don't deserve my help!"

Before their fight could get any worse, one of the foxes intervened.

"Huh?" said Cornelia.

The fox had something in her mouth.

"What ya got there, girl?" said the gentle Irma, taking the scroll from the fox.

"What is it?" asked Cornelia, as Irma opened the scroll.

"It's...a picture. Of someone?" wondered Irma.

The picture was of a woman, but not like any woman the two Guardians had ever seen before!

Her skin looked like bark, and her fingers were twigs. Her lips were covered in tree sap, and formed into an enchanting smile, while her eyebrows were tree buds.

And her head was adorned with...

"Oh! Look at her hair! It's cherry blossoms!" exclaimed Cornelia, stunned at the sheer radiance of the woman.

"Where did you get that?" said the enraged Wan Shi Tong.

Meantime, back in their bedroom-like jail cell, Will and Hay Lin discovered they were not as alone as they thought!

"If the Mayor used his Staff on that door, there's no way you or anyone could open it!" said the unknown voice.

"Who's there?" Will demanded.

"Hey, calm down! It's only me!" said the desk.

"You...who are you?" asked Hay Lin.

"Me? Nobody! Only the desk Xin Jing wrote all her stories on, that's all!" said the half put upon, half boastful, piece of furniture.

"You knew Xin Jing?? She was real?" said the shocked Will Vandom.

"Of course she was real! How do you think all this got here? Sheesh!" said the annoyed desk.

"Sorry. Where I come from, Xin Jing is more like a legend!" Will informed the brash bureau.

"Speaking of here, I think I figured out where we are - the Spirit World!" exclaimed Hay Lin, in a 'eureka' moment! "Aang said there were stories of Xin Jing in the Spirit World..."

"...And Avatar Roku is a spirit! That's what Aang told us! Of course! That's why everything is so strange! No offense!" Will said to the desk. "And that's why our powers don't work here! There's no bending in the Spirit World!"

"But it still doesn't explain what's going on here, or why they blame us for it!" Will continued.

"Haven't you heard?" said the desk. "The Spirit Army is rampaging through the Spirit World! They're trying to take it over!"

"A Spirit Army?" questioned Will. "Aang mentioned an ancient Earth King tried to put together a Spirit Army to invade the Spirit World. But the Avatar at the time ended the threat."

"I guess he didn't end the threat forever." the desk replied.

"No, I guess he didn't." agreed Will.

"Hold on!" interjected Hay Lin. "I still don't understand! What is this Spirit World place, anyway? And why would a, a chair, say I looked liked Xin Jing?"

"The chair said that??" said the incredulous bureau. "You'll have to pardon my furniture partner, but he didn't always get the best view of Xinjy, if you know what I mean!"

"Xinjy?" said Will with raised eyebrow. For an animate piece of furniture, the desk spoke a bit too familiarly of the one who created him.

"You bear a slight resemblance to Xin Jing, but that's it!" stated the desk to the Air Guardian. "As for what the Spirit World is, that's a long, and not always pleasant, story." he sighed.

"Humor us!" requested Will. "We have time!"

"Maybe too much time!" Hay Lin darkly commented.

"Well, it all started a long, long time ago!" began the writing desk. "With a little girl who wrote stories about fantastic creatures in far-off lands. And then, the stories...started to come true."

_"Oh! Who are you?" said the surprised young girl._

_"You have not yet given me a name, Mistress Xin Jing!" replied the hybrid Spirit._

_"You are a funny-looking creature indeed, with both monkey and centipede parts, so I shall call you Wu Guo!" said Xin Jing._

_"Does my appearance displease you?" asked Wu Guo. "Shall I change it?"_

_"Yes, please do!" urged the excited girl._

_And so the centipede monkey spirit known as Wu Guo proceeded to try on several different faces, much to the delight of his mistress, Xin Jing._

_"Ha ha! More!" she cried._

"Although Xin JIng greatly enjoyed her ability to create things, she knew her father, the Jade Emperor, would not approve! This upset the girl, who agonized over what to do." said the desk, continuing his story.

"Will, she sounds like the Xin Jing on our world! She was the daughter of the Jade Emperor, too!" said Hay Lin.

"Except, things coming true because she wished them, that sounds like she was the Heart of her world, like Lillian is the Heart of Earth!" added the Guardian of Energy. "Tell me, are there four dragons in your story, also?" she asked the bureau.

"No. No dragons. If I could finish?" said the testy desk.

"Sorry!" Will apologized. "Go ahead."

"Xin Jing realized she needed a special place where she could create all of the magical creatures she wanted, and that's how the Spirit World came to be!" the desk informed Will and Hay Lin. "First, she created all of the major spirits - Hei Bai, the black and white spirit of the forest animals; Tui and La, the moon and ocean spirits, respectively; Kaki Tori, the sun spirit; Shui She, the water spirit; Uindo, the air spirit; Kameshe, the spirit of growing things; Wa-Mu, the earth spirit; Wan Shi Tong, the spirit of knowledge; and Wu Guo, the spirit of fun and play. Wu Guo was actually the first spirit Xin Jing created, and was her favorite."

_"Do you no longer care for me, Xin Jing?" asked Wu Guo. "Do I not make you happy anymore?"_

_"Of course you do, Wu Guo!" replied Xin Jing. "You are my favorite,and I shall always love you!"_

_"Then why do you create other spirits?" he inquired._

_"Though you mean the world to me, Wu Guo, you are not all that I am." answered Xin Jing. "You are not my fire, nor my wind, water, or earth."_

_"I see." said the centipede monkey spirit._

_"Do my actions lessen your love for me?" asked Xin Jing. "I could not bear it if it was so!"_

_"No, of course not, Xin Jing!" said Wu Guo. "I shall always love you, no matter the occurrence!"_

_"But I am concerned about one thing." continued the playful Spirit. "With you spending more and more time in the Spirit World, won't your father, the Jade Emperor, notice your absence?"_

_"No, for I have found a way to separate my spirit form from my physical body, which still resides in my father's palace. So he will discover nothing amiss!"_

_"Ha! You truly are a wonder, Mistress Xin Jing!" said the appreciative Wu Guo._

"Then Xin Jing created all of the other, lesser spirits you see around here, except for the few beings who ascended to the Spirit World on their own. And for a time, all was wonderful! Xin Jing built a perfect world here, out of sight of everyone in the physical world!"

"How do you know all this?" Will inquired of the bureau.

"Hello, writing desk here!" said the slightly miffed desk. "She wrote it all down!"

"He's right, Will!" pointed out Hay Lin. "Look at all of these scrolls!"

Will and Hay Lin paged through the collection of scrolls in the desk's drawers.

The Tree Dwarf and the Wolf Bear...The Mayor of Spirit Town...Shui She, the Snake that Encircled the World!

And many more titles!

_"Your forest animals need a few changes, Hei Bai." said Xin Jing. "Spots and stripes, the better to blend in and escape predators!"_

_"Yes, Mistress Xin Jing." said Hei Bai, the black and white panda spirit._

_"Kameshe, make the trees taller! Tall as the sky!" requested Xin Jing. "Then the birds shall be able to rest their wings and walk from treetop to treetop!"_

_"As you wish, Xin Jing." replied Kameshe, tree spirit of growing things._

_"Wan Shi Tong, what text contains the 'bent bamboo problem'?" quizzed Xin Jing._

_"The math text Chou Pei, MIstress Xin Jing." answered the knowledge spirit owl._

_"Ha! I can never stump you!" laughed Xin Jing. "Shui She, how many times has your massive body encircled the Earth?" she inquired._

_"Twice, Mistress." replied Shui She, the water spirit snake._

_"Try for three." requested Xin Jing._

_"I shall make it so." said Shui She._

_"Kaki Tori, the shadows are too deep!" anounced Xin Jing. "Increase the sun's brightness so none may hide!"_

_"As you command, Xin Jing, it shall be so." replied Kaki Tori, the sun spirit firebird._

"But if everything was so perfect, what happened?" Hay Lin asked.

"No one really knows...But one spirit did write it down. It's the last entry in the Great Scroll. I don't like rehashing it. If you want to know what happened, read it yourself." said the sullen writing desk.

And so Will and Hay Lin read the story to themselves.

_A great cry went up in the Spirit World. " Xin Jing is down!" Her spirit was...no more._

_"How did this happen?" asked Hei Bai, the mighty spirit of the forest animals, as he and the other spirits gathered around the now spiritless, and soon to expire, physical body of their creator._

_"I do not know, and I know many things!" stated Wan Shi Tong, spirit of knowledge._

_"This is a calamity!" exclaimed Wa-Mu, the earth spirit. "Already the physical world, bereft of the special energy granted by Xin Jing, begins to break apart!"_

_"Yes, with our Spirit World soon to follow!" said Wu Guo, the spirit of play._

_"It is truly a tragedy beyond compare!" said Uindo, the air spirit._

_"We must do something!" said Kaki Tori, the sun spirit. "Or all will be lost!"_

_"But what can we do?" asked the grave Shui She, the water spirit. "We have not her power!"_

_"But we retain a portion of her might!" said La, the ocean spirit. _

_"Correct, brother!" said Tui, the moon spirit. "If we pass over into the physical world forever and become mortal, we may yet save this world Xin Jing loved so!"_

_"But you will need help!" said Kameshe, the spirit of growing things. "If I pass over with you, the chances of preserving the world grow exponentially!"_

_"We must act quickly!" said Hei Bai. "Already, continents sink, forever irretrievable!"_

Reading this, Will had a revelation: _My God! That's why there's no America or Africa or Europe on this world! _thought Will, choking up at the idea that so many people, half the world, were lost in one fell swoop! She was only comforted by the fact that it could have been worse. Much worse!

The Energy Guardian read further.

_Once Tui and La and Kameshe passed over into the physical world, saving it, one grim task remained._

_"We must preserve Xin Jing's power for future generations!" said wise Hei Bai. "The people will have need of it!"_

_"Agreed." said Wu Guo. "But how shall we go about this awesome responsibility?"_

_"There is only one way." said Kaki Tori. "I will take her element of fire into the sun, and only bestow it on those powerful and strong-willed enough to wield it." As Kaki Tori said this, he took Xin Jing's breath out of her body._

_"And I will take her element of water into my depths, and only grant it to those who can adapt to the push and pull of my lost brothers, Tui and La." said Shui She, as he sucked the moisture out of Xin Jing's prone form._

_"And I will take her element of earth into my bosom, and only bequeath it to those strong and diverse enough to comprehend all that I am, and Kameshe was." said Wa-Mu, as he took Xin Jing's remaining solidness from her._

_"And I will take her element of air into my vast reaches, and only gift it to those who rise above earthly things." said Uindo, as he took the only thing left of Xin Jing._

_"That is all well and good," Hei Bai said, "but one will be needed who controls all four forces, as Xin Jing did, or the world could fall out of balance!"_

_"Such power! Who could be entrusted with such a daunting task?" asked Wu Guo._

_"Only the most worthy of the humans!" stated Hei Bai. "Do you not agree, Wan Shi Tong?"_

_"Yes...If such a one could be found, the balance...would be retained." said Wan Shi Tong. "And the world would continue."_

_Omigosh! _thought Hay Lin, reading the scroll. _So that's how the Avatar began! I had no idea! In fact, I don't think even Aang knows how important he really is!_

And the girls, Will and Hay Lin both, realized why the Avatar's world had no Guardians, and why their elemental powers were similar and yet so different at the same time!

Will had only one question after reading the scroll.

"You said a spirit wrote this?" asked the Guardian of Energy. "Which one?"

"Wu Guo." answered the desk. "And no one's seen him since!"

In the Spirit Library annex, the Earth Guardian faced down an extremely angry giant owl! (With an extremely huge, sharp beak!)

"Your, your fox gave this scroll to us!" said the shaken Cornelia. "We didn't mean anything!"

Then the Owl Spirit calmed down, and said "I'm sorry. Please forgive my outburst. That scroll is very delicate!"

"That's okay." said Corny, handing the scroll picture to Wan Shi Tong. "Who is she? She's very beautiful!"

"Her name was Kameshe. And yes, she was very beautiful." said the sad Spirit of Knowledge, peering at the image of the one he loved...and lost.

_Kameshe walked out of the forest surrounding Wan Shi Tong's Spirit Library and stopped to admire Wan's garden. She inhaled the scent of one particularly appealing flower._

_"Kameshe! What a surprise!" exclaimed the happy Spirit of Knowledge._

_"Not so surprising, Wan. You know it is my duty to tend to the forests of the Spirit World. You also know how much I enjoy your garden. That is why you have it, do you not?" Kameshe teased him._

_"You know me all too well!" replied Wan Shi Tong._

_"What flower is this? It's very lovely!" asked Kameshe, pointing to the wildflowers in Wan Shi Tong's garden._

_"That is a a rosa chinensis, and it is indeed lovely. Though not as lovely as you!" said the Knowledge Spirit._

_Kameshe laughed. "Wan, you have the mind of a scholar, but hardly the soul of a poet!"_

_"You wound me, Mistress Kameshe! I know much poetry! In fact, I shall compose a haiku in your honor! Ahem._

_Pretty Kameshe_

_Tending forest and garden_

_Knowledge by her side"_

_Kameshe laughed even more. "That...that is a terrible haiku!" she said, but in a way that both knew what she really meant._

_"As you say, I do not have the soul of a poet. It is not in my nature." said Wan Shi Tong. "Forgive me?"_

_"Always, Wan Shi Tong!" said the flirtatious Spirit of Growing Things, as she drew closer to the Great Owl._

"Was?" said Cornelia, not wanting to pry, but unable to help herself. "What happened?"

"It was a long time ago." explained Wan Shi Tong. "There was an accident, and then, she was gone from the Spirit World forever."

_"But Kameshe, if you pass over into the physical world..." said the sad Wan Shi Tong. "..You will never be able to return to the Spirit World!"_

_"I will still be here, my love. But on Earth." said the generous sacrificial spirit, Kameshe. "Wan, you know I must do this. It is what Xin Jing would have wanted."_

_"Yes. Of course. Am I not the Knowledge Spirit? I know many things." said the somber Wan Shi Tong. "But know also that I will never stop loving you, and will search tirelessly for a way to restore you!"_

"I'm so sorry!" Cornelia consoled the Owl Spirit.

"Thank you. You're very kind." he replied.

Cornelia, sensing his pain, reached out. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I..." began Wan Shi Tong. "I haven't spoken of her in such a long time. Kameshe was life...and love itself. She loved everything and everyone, without reservation. To be around her was...indescribable. And she always cared about the people. More than most spirits, anyway. When the people of Earth fractured into four nations because of fear and hatred, Kameshe believed she could bring them together to live in harmony. She even created a place where they could all live, but only a small Water Tribe moved in." he lamented. "Have you been to the Swamp?"

"No, that's one place we didn't visit." answered Cornelia.

"You should go there. It is truly a wondrous place. Kameshe's essence permeates every square inch of the terrain." said Wan Shi Tong. "I myself have not been there in a long time. Her loss is too much with me. I still hold out hope things can improve, but..."

"Don't worry, sir! The Avatar will take care of it!" said the hopeful Guardian of Earth. "Aang will end the war, and then the nations will all live together in peace! And I can restore the land. I already helped Hei Bai's forest recover from a fire!" said the cheerfully confident Cornelia.

"Really? You have a good soul, Cornelia Hale." said the Spirit of Knowledge, unwittingly revealing he knew more than he let on.

As for Irma, she had just about enough of this depressing and boring conversation, and felt the urge to butt in!

"Is this her?" said the Water Guardian, pointing to a tapestry on the wall. A proud Wan Shi Tong stood next to a beaming Kameshe, with other Spirits filling in the scene.

"Yes. In happier times." said the Great Owl.

"Who are these others?" Irma asked.

"Oh, look!" shouted Corny, as she recognized one of the Spirits. "That's Hei Bai, right?"

"Yes, Hei Bai the forest spirit (panda) is there. And Shui She the water spirit (snake), Kaki Tori the sun spirit (phoenix), Tui the moon spirit (fish), La the ocean spirit (fish), Wa-Mu the earth spirit (worm), Uindo the air spirit (formless) and..." said Wan Shi Tong, the Knowledge Spirit, ticking off the list of Spirits represented on the tapestry.

"Who's this one?" inquired Irma, indicating a spirit with a wide, infectious smile and a cherubic face. "He looks funny!" she said.

It wasn't just his elastic features that elicited a chuckle from Irma. His body was strange, too. Long, with many legs, like some bizarre dinosaur from a kids' cartoon!

"Yes. He was very funny." said the solemn Spirit of Knowledge. "His name was Wu Guo."

"So you know Hei Bai?" asked Cornelia, referring to the only spirit she 'met' before.

"Yes, I know him." said the downcast Wan Shi Tong. "But we haven't spoken in a long time."

"Why?" inquired the curious Cornelia Hale. "What happened?"

"We didn't see eye to eye on something...Words were said that probably shouldn't have been. That sort of thing. Sighhh." said the melancholy spirit.

_"How could you let Kameshe do that??" said the very upset Spirit of Knowledge._

_"I did not make her do anything. It was her choice." replied wise Hei Bai._

_"And now she's gone - for good! Not just from the Spirit World, but from Earth, too! Because you care more for your precious humans than your fellow Spirits!" said the maddened Wan Shi Tong._

_"That's not true and you know it." countered the Black and White Spirit. "And, too, you know more than you let on, Wan Shi Tong!"_

_"What?? Now you're blaming __me__ for this? No, it's the fault of those humans you coddle! They don't deserve the gifts you and the other Spirits shower upon them! They're always making war, and now they drag us into it? No more! I'm through with helping them!!" said the enraged Knowledge Spirit._

"_We only do that which is required to maintain the balance." said the Spirit of the Forest Animals._

_"I have heard enough! Do not speak to me again, Hei Bai!" thundered the mighty owl._

"That's too bad!" replied Corny. "Hey! Maybe I can put in a good word for you the next time I see Hei Bai!" the perky Earth Guardian said.

"Ha!" Wan laughed. The girls' youthful optimism was very amusing. "If only that would work!"

"So what happened to all of these spirits?' asked Irma, sensing more, untold stories.

"Life. Or whatever you call it that we spirits have!" Wan Shi Tong chuckled at his little joke. Then he became serious once more. "Tui and La left the Spirit World forever to live in the physical world as mortals. Shui She keeps to himself, shunning most. Wa-Mu spends most of his time in the Earth Kingdom, deep underground. Kaki Tori does visit from time to time, but infrequently. Uindo comes and goes, as is his nature. And Wu Guo...disappeared. There are theories, but..."

"But what?" Irma had to know.

"No one wants to search for the truth." replied the Owl Spirit. "They fear the answer they'll find!"

Irma looked again at the tapestry picture of Wu Guo. What could have happened to such a happy creature?

Then Irma noticed the signature of the artist.

_Huh? _ Irma thought to herself. _Who's Xinjy?_

Just then, the foxes on guard outside made quite a din!

Company had arrived!

Unexpected company!

_"You have truly built a wonderful world, Mistress Xin Jing!" Wu Guo marveled. "But what if conflict and calamity were to erupt?"_

_"Oh, Wu Guo, you know one Spirit can not harm another!" said the thoughtful Xin Jing. "There shall be no conflict in the Spirit World, for I have decreed it so!"_

_"But what if the conflict came from outside, Mistress?" asked the crafty Wu Guo._

_"I suspect you worry overmuch, playful one." replied Xin Jing. "But I shall consider your concerns."_

_"Thank you, Mistress Xin Jing." said the humble Wu Guo. "You honor me with such thoughts."_

"This Wu Guo just...disappeared?" asked Hay Lin. "But how can a spirit disappear?"

"Lots of ways, as we found out later." said the chatty desk. "Xin Jing wasn't the first tragedy to befall the Spirit World!"

"Why? What else happened?" Will inquired.

"When these Spirit Warriors showed up the first time, the only reason they were stopped was because of Kameshe, the Spirit of Growing Things." said the bureau.

"Spirit of Growing Things??" wondered Hay Lin. "You mean a plant spirit?"

"That's one term for her." replied the desk.

"Hold on!" insisted Will. "I thought Avatar Wen Tao stopped the Spirit Warriors?!"

"I'm sure the Avatar and everyone else would like to believe that!" said the blabbermouth bureau. "But the fact of the matter is Kameshe sacrificed herself to stop the Spirit Army! We spirits can't ever forget what she did for us! The people suffered, too. Because Kameshe was no more, the earth benders lost the ability to bend plants. Eventually, they forgot they ever did! It was too much to bear, I guess."

"Cornelia said people called her a witch!" mused Will. "That must be why! The Earth Kingdom villagers must have freaked at seeing a power they sensed they used to have!"

"But, Will, if Xin Jing created these Spirits, that's kind of like when Lillian created the Regents, so she was a Heart of her world, like Lillian...or you. And if Kameshe was a plant elemental, like Cornelia..." worried the Guardian of Air, as she put it all together.

"What are you trying to say, Hay Lin?" Will pointedly asked the air elemental.

"Will…" said the trembling Asian girl. "Anyone on this world that's different from their four elements...That is, anyone who's like someone on our world...They kill!"

"Don't say that, Hay Lin!" said Will Vandom, the words hissing through her teeth.

_Oooh, ominous!_

_Next:_

_Will on trial in the Spirit World!_

_With a killer shock ending to beat all killer shock endings!_

_Cornelia and Irma on the run_

_(and the beginning of the Corny/Irma friendship),_

_which culminates in..._

_(but that would be telling!)_

_It's the DOUBLE shocker of the year!_

_If there's only one chapter you read this month_

_(although, seriously, why would you do that?),_

_it's gotta be this one!_

_Plus:_

_Nerissa's secret past on the Avatar's world!_

_And what's her connection to the Spirit World?_

Notes

'My Tea Time with Wan Shi Tong' would be more accurate, but 'Dinner' makes for a better title.

The stuff about Blue Moon ice cream is true. It's blue ice cream that's only available in the Midwest (according to the newspaper article). It's said to have a fruity taste. Heatherfield, the Guardians' hometown, is supposed to be on the east coast (not the west coast, because Heatherfield has snow). Although it's never been firmly established.

This mention of Cornelia's weird cravings (and an earlier chapter's scene of Cornelia getting sick) might be seen as foreshadowing of a certain life change, but an entirely different life change is coming for our favorite earth elemental!

The town the Spirit beings live in, that looks like an emperor's palace on steroids, is a weird combo of Beijing's Forbidden City and the mythical Xanadu.

Roku, with his blue light, reminds me of Glinda from the Wizard of Oz. But I didn't make up the blue light. The Avatar people at Nickelodeon created it.

Ying Lao - Chinese for 'eagle rat'.

Kameshe - Japanese for 'life death', kame meaning tortoise, or long life, and shi meaning death. Kameshe was originally Kameshi, but I didn't want anyone to confuse her with Wan Shi Tong.

Kaki Tori - Japanese for 'fire bird' (phoenix). Kaki is Japanese for fire, and also flower, which is appropriate. The phoenix is reborn from its ashes. It symbolizes the sun, which is reborn every day. Flowers also are reborn, as they bloom every year. Tori is Japanese for bird.

Wa-Mu is Japanese for 'worm'.

Uindo is Japanese for 'wind'. I wanted a Korean word for wind, but there aren't any good English-Korean translators online.

Wu Guo is Chinese for 'centipede monkey'.

The Chou Pei presents the oldest known proof of the right-angle triangle theory in the hsuan-thu diagram. This theory is commony known as the 'Pythagorean theorem'.

The 'Spirit Squad' (that's what I call all the major Spirits) remind me of those ill-fated super teams, like the Watchmen, that were mega-powerful, but disbanded because of conflicts in the team.

The Wolf Bear was seen in "The Siege of the North, Part 2" when Aang was in the Spirit World, but I didn't have anything for him to do, so he only gets mentioned as one of Xin Jing's stories.

I had to create a lot of spirits for this arc. Besides the animal hybrids/minor spirits, I needed a few major spirits. Hei Bai is the Spirit of the Forest, and there were Ocean and Moon Spirits, but they lived on Earth. Wan Shi Tong is the Knowledge Spirit (Notice Koh isn't the spirit of anything, is he?). That's not enough spirits. I needed more spirits to set one side against the other. So I created an earth spirit, an air spirit, a water spirit and a fire spirit (and the fire spirit isn't the bad guy! Yay!). I also came up with the dead spirit. None of this was in the original story outline, but it really set the wheels turning in my head. Also, if there are 'earth spirits' (plural) (see 'The Great Divide', Episode 1-11), why can't there be more than one water spirit? I briefly considered adding a mountain spirit, then realized I had too many spirits already.

Xin Jing's fate is a little…out there. Basically, the Spirits 'recycled' her body to preserve her power. This origin explains bending and the Avatar's connection to the Spirit World. It also provides the reason Aang can't bend in the Spirit World - his bending ability is in his physical body, which came from the earth, sun, water, wind - all of which came from Xin Jing's physical body. No one can bend in the Spirit World because bending has a purely physical origin.

Animals can bend because they, too, are 'worthy'. Makes you wonder which animal can bend fire, huh? I suspect that will be in Season 3 of Avatar.

The Spirits don't determine who gets bending abilities. They merely transferred Xin Jing's elemental powers to the physical world. So Aang can't appeal to Kaki Tori and ask him to take away the Fire Lord's fire bending. It doesn't work that way (However, the Spirits may be involved in choosing the Avatar). The elemental bending abilities reside in the planet's soil (earth), water, air and sun (fire). Water benders say they get their power from the moon, but it's really from the interplay between the ocean and the moon.

Rosa chinensis is the scientific term for China Rose.

Events here explain why Wan Shi Tong has such a mad-on for humans. It's not just about war, it's about what he lost due to war. And it elaborates on why he's so dedicated to the search for knowledge. Not only does he want to fulfill his function as the Knowledge Spirit, he also wishes to discover the means to bring back his love, Kameshe. This narrative also indicates why Wan lives in a desert - he doesn't want to be reminded of his loss.

It's appropriate that Wan Shi Tong's Spirit Library Annex is described as a 'mausoleum', as the full-size Library in the Earth Kingdom is modeled after the Taj Mahal, which was built as a mausoleum by an Indian emperor to honor his deceased wife. Wan's Spirt Library could be seen as a mausoleum built to honor Kameshe.

The Swamp is all that remains of Kameshe. It's alive, and retains Kameshe's instincts/impulses, but not her consciousness. It appears as if the Swamp is communicating with Aang in Episode 2-4, but it can't really think. Also, since the Swamp represents a 'dead' Spirit, that may be why it shows people images of those they've lost…or yet to meet. As Kameshe has 'passed on' to the Land of the Dead, perhaps she's privy to secret information.

Because Kameshe sacrificed herself to defeat Quo Jin's Spirit Warriors, earth benders lost the ability to affect plant life. (Also, I theorize water benders can heal because Tui & La healed the Earth when they became mortal). With Kameshe gone, Hei Bai took over some of her duties and became the Spirit of the Forest, instead of just the Spirit of the Forest Animals.

That earth benders used to be able to bend plant life reveals why spring is the season of earth (rocks don't have a season, do they?)

This chapter also explains all of the crazy hybrid animals in the Avatar's world. Most were created by Xin Jing. Others were the work of the Spirits, as they attempted to re-create the animals that were lost when half the world vanished.

I'm doing things in this story I didn't even plan to do a week ago. In other words, no one is safe! Be afraid, be very afraid! (Okay, not that afraid!)


	54. On Trial In The Spirit World

**Author's Note: I kept on delaying and putting off the writing of this chapter. I didn't want to start it, because...you'll see why. **

Chapter 36: On Trial in the Spirit World

Will's mood was grim as she and Hay Lin were led, in chains, into the Spirit World court.

The many odd spirits and hybrids harassed the two girls. The Prosecutor, the eaglerat Ying Lao, grinned at the reception the Guardians received, believing he had an easy case.

But the worst thing for Will was seeing who her defense attorney was...

...Avatar Roku!

"I'd say this was a kangaroo court, but that'd be an insult to kangaroos!" Will joked, without cracking a smile. Her attempt at black humor had no noticeable effect on her counsel.

"What's going on, Roku? How can they blame us for their mess? And where are Taranee, Cornelia and Irma??" the Guardian leader demanded to know.

"The ones known as Irma and Cornelia are safe, for the moment. My dragon is watching over them." Roku replied. "The one known as Taranee remains in the Fire Nation. She was needed there."

"You left Taranee back in the Fire Nation? What, afraid she'd figure out your scheme?" jeered Will, who always said Taranee was 'the smart one'.

"Have a care, young one! Your manner is most unbecoming!" the former Avatar admonished her. "I am here to render assistance to your and your friends. I will overlook your tone, this once, as you cannot be expected to understand all that occurs."

"Yeah? Try me!" dared the spunky Keeper of the Heart.

"Treat these matters seriously, young Will. Your very life depends upon it!" Roku lectured her.

"Hmphh!" Will snorted in reply. She knew he was right.

But she also knew Avatar Roku was privy to more information than he let on, and the thought of being a pawn in someone's game truly galled the young Guardian!

Across the courtroom, Prosecutor Ying Lao asked his associate, the water snake Shui She "What happened to the third one, the one that claimed to be a water spirit? Her heresy would have led to an easy conviction!"

"She wasss not with them, Ying Lao!" hissed the snake. "There were only thessse two!"

"Ah. It matters little, I suppose." commented Ying Lao. "We can still do our master's bidding!"

"I am not ssso sure, Ying Lao!" said the snake. "For it meanss another had plansss for her!"

"Hmmm. Then perhaps you should inform our master of that fact, Shui She?" requested the eaglerat.

"As you sssay." replied the snake. "I will return shortly." he hissed. Shui She then turned to leave, his massive, seemingly endless body following behind him.

Meanwhile, the angry barking of Wan Shi Tong's guard foxes brought the Owl Spirit, Cornelia and Irma running out of the Spirit Library Annex where they found...

"Kangxi! Puyi!" Cornelia happily screamed in greeting the two Warriors who had offered to escort her and Irma to a safe place in the Spirit World.

"Golden hair! It is good to see you!" said Kangxi the Spirit Warrior. "Hello, honorable Wan Shi Tong! Could you kindly call off your servants?" asked Kangxi, as the foxes barked and nipped at the feet of the warriors' ostrichhorses.

"Ladies! Inside!" Wan Shi Tong commanded his foxes. "Excuse my guardians. They are not usually like that. But, with the present unrest..."

"Ah, yes. We understand, Great Spirit!" Kangxi politely replied. "I thank you for looking after our charges. Are you ready to continue your journey to find your friends, ladies?" he asked Cornelia and Irma.

"Of course!" beamed Cornelia. "And Wan has offered to help, too! He said he'll search the Earth Kingdom for Will, Taranee and Hay Lin while we look for them here in the Spirit World!"

"Is that so, Knowledge Spirit? Truly, you are generous beyond measure!" said the curt Kangxi, a hint of menace in his voice.

"Yes. Well. It is the least I can do, to aid such fine girls as these." said the hesitant Owl Spirit.

"If you have no objection, milady, perhaps we should leave now before more rebels infiltrate the area?" requested Kangxi of the Earth Guardian, extending his hand to pull her onto his steed.

"Oh, okay!" agreed Cornelia, who nevertheless didn't take Kangxi's offered hand. "Let me say goodbye to Wan Shi Tong first!" Turning to the Knowledge Spirit, she said "Are you sure you'll be okay here?"

"I'll be fine, Cornelia Hale. Don't worry about me! One learns how to survive after hundreds and thousands of years!" replied Wan Shi Tong. He chuckled inside. This little human was worried about him?

"That's good!" said the pleased Cornelia. "Well, thank you for all your hospitality, sir! I hope we'll meet again soon!" Presenting her hand, she asked him "Um, do you shake hands or wings here? Oh, never mind! Bye!"

Cornelia then climbed onto the back of Kangxi's ostrichhorse.

Wan watched her go, with no emotion evident on his raptor's face, and began to retreat back into the safety of his Library.

However, before Irma could follow suit and resume her position on Puyi's steed, The Great Owl...had a change of heart.

"Noooo!!" he yelled, drawing himself up to his full, monstrous height! "I won't let you take them!"

Kangxi's ostrichhorse reared up.

"Wan? What are you doing??" Cornelia screamed.

The Owl continued to threaten the Warriors. "Be warned! I know all forms of martial arts! Southern Dragon Claw, Baguazhang, Hung Gar, Tai Chi, Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis, Foggy Swamp Style..." he said, as he spread his wings to emphasize his fearsome stature.

Wan Shi Tong's body elongated, becoming almost serpent-like, and then...his head hit the overhanging roof of his Library Annex.

Stunned, he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Oh no! Wan!" cried Cornelia, who jumped off the ostrich and ran to his side.

"Calm yourself, milady! Wan Shi Tong's foxes will take care of him!" said Kangxi to Corny.

Immediately, the Knowledge Spirit's foxes gathered around him.

"See? Even now, they nurse him back to health!" added Kangxi.

"But what happened to him? Why did he act like that?" asked the concerned Guardian of Earth.

"Wan Shi Tong is a Great Spirit, but he has been living alone in these trackless wastes for a long time! It must have affected him terribly!" theorized the warrior named Kangxi.

"He did say he still misses his love, Kameshe..." Cornelia pondered. The way Wan spoke of her was so sad.

"Yes. Her passing was a tragedy." said the solemn Kangxi.

"I hope you get better, sir." said Cornelia, who placed a stray daffodil petal on the Great Owl's body.

"Not to worry! See how his assistants bring him back into his library to recover?" added the Spirit Warrior, seeking to calm Cornelia's fears, as Wan's foxes transported their unconscious master into his study.

"Now, I think it is time we took our leave!" commanded Kangxi. "Puyi?" he called to his Spirit Warrior companion.

Puyi looked to Irma, who was still on her feet, and motioned for her to get on his ostrichhorse.

"Irma? Come on, let's go!" urged Cornelia, seated once again behind Kangxi. Then she said to her host "By the way, I'd prefer it if you called me by my name! It's Cornelia!"

"And a wonderful name it is!" replied Kangxi. "What does it mean?"

"It's kind of silly!" answered Cornelia. "It means 'horn'!"

"That's not so bad! Horn as in a musical instrument?" wondered Kangxi.

"No, I think it means a different kind of horn." Cornelia explained. She then glanced behind and was pleased to see Irma had decided to join their party as a passenger on Puyi's ostrich. Corny was afraid Irma was going to put up another fight. _Thank God she didn't! _ thought the Earth Guardian.

The decision to accompany her friend was not an easy one for Irma.

Moments earlier, when Wan Shi Tong menaced the warrior duo, Irma noticed Puyi grasp his sword, and knew he meant to use it on the Owl Spirit, if the hapless Spirit hadn't done himself in.

With Wan Shi Tong knocked out and other options nonexistent at the moment, Irma reluctantly climbed on board Puyi's ostrich.

As it trotted after Kangxi's and Cornelia's steed, Puyi's ostrichhorse trampled Wan Shi Tong's garden, obliterating many of the daffodils growing there.

The daffodils separated from the land by the ostrich's violent passage flew through the air and came to rest on the arid soil next to the garden, becoming just another part of the vast, dead wasteland surrounding the Spirit Library.

Back in the Spirit Court, the Prosecutor took an interesting legal tack with his case against the Guardians.

"Your honor, I wish to add to the charges and try the one known as Irma in absentia for the heresy of impersonating a Spirit." said Ying Lao.

"Objection, your honor!" rang out the defense attorney, Avatar Roku. "The Water Spirits Tu and La are not here to press any such charges!"

"As they reside in the physical world, they can not. So we have filed a proxy for them." pointed out the shyster eaglerat. With the head of an eagle, Ying Lao's authoritarian yet warm, and very persuasive, voice carried many a jury. And his rat body knew how to get down and dirty in the courtroom. Whatever it took to win a case, he had the tools for the job!

"I'll allow it." announced the Judge, Mayor GroundPig. "Crimes are crimes, no matter where they take place or where the criminal is."

"This is ridiculous!" Will bellowed. "And I'm getting real tired of people taking the Heart from me!" Will added, in an angry and defiant tone, recalling what happened to her in Ba Sing Se and the Fire Nation.

Will knew the Mayor was keeping the Heart of Candracar nearby - maybe behind his bench - and summoned it to return to her!

And normally, that would have worked. Only the Keeper of the Heart can command its power.

But not here!

"I don't get it!" grumbled the still shackled Will. "I tried to call the Heart back to me, but nothing happened!"

"They said the Mayor has a Staff of Jade." speculated Hay Lin. "Maybe Xin Jing made it from something her father, the Jade Emperor, used. He did bind the four dragons, so the Staff could have the power to bind the Heart of Candracar!"

"That's just great, Hay Lin!" moaned Will Vandom. "That's just freakin' great!"

_"I have given much thought to your desire for security from invaders, Wu Guo." said the Heart of the world, Xin Jing, to her Spirit of Play. "And I have decided the Spirit World shall have a Protector."_

_"The Protector shall use this abandoned staff of my father's to keep the peace." said Xin Jing, displaying the Staff to her favorite Spirit. "I have infused it with my power, so no spirit need fear any outsider!"_

_"That is wonderful news, Mistress Xin Jing!" exulted Wu Guo. "But which Spirit is worthy enough to wield such a mighty weapon?" he said, strongly hinting he himself was the top choice._

_"Oh, Wu Guo! You Spirits are all so wise and brave!" replied the proud Xin Jing. "So I shall leave it to all of you to decide who shall possess the Staff of Jade!"_

Riding through the plains of the Spirit World, a vast region of groundcover and daffodils, Cornelia had a question for her Spirit Warrior host.

"Kangxi, why is there so much trouble in the Spirit World? Isn't the Spirit World supposed to be a peaceful place, where Spirits go to rest?" she asked.

"Ordinarily, yes." he answered. "But problems can still occur. My master foresaw the need for protecting the Spirit World years ago, but his efforts did not succeed. He will not fail again!"

In the Spirit Court, Prosecutor Ying Lao called on witnesses.

"Why am I a tree _dwarf_, huh?" barked the tree dwarf. "I'll tell you why - because of Xin Jing! All the other trees make fun of me, because of what she did!"

"See what Xin Jing did to me?" complained the Chair. "No arms!"

"Look at me!" cried Walk This Way And That. "I have two sets of feet pointed in opposite directions! Do you know how hard it is to go anywhere? Why did our creator do this to me?!"

"Thank you for your testimony, Walk This Way And That. You may exit the witness stand now." said Ying Lao.

"Okay. Uh, 'scuse me! Pardon me!" said Walk This Way And That, as he attempted to walk around Ying Lao.

"You know, I think I liked it better when only the appliances talked!" fumed the electrical Will.

"This is crazy, Avatar Roku!" said Hay Lin to their defense attorney. "How can they blame Will and me for something Xin Jing did to them?"

Pressed by the defense, Prosecutor Ying Lao had a response.

"You are the heirs to Xin Jing's power, are you not?" asked Ying Lao.

"Well, uh..." stammered Hay Lin.

"Do not answer that, child!" said Avatar Roku. "Your honor, I move to strike all previous testimony, which was obviously intended to prejudice the jury, and declare a mistrial!" Roku said to the Judge.

"Well, Counselor?" the Judge pressed Ying Lao. "Are you going somewhere with this, or do I shut you down right now?"

"I was merely illustrating the misuse of the defendant's great power, your Honor." said the slippery Ying Lao. "I shall get to the heart of the matter, then, which they will be implicated in. Nerissa, and her creation of the first Spirit Warriors!"

"What??" gasped Hay Lin.

"Nerissa??" said the super shocked Will. "But, but how could she have created the Spirit Warriors?? That was hundreds of years ago!"

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

_Author's note: I didn't have a better place for this, so I'm putting it here._

_Afterwards, we'll return to the regular story._

Interlude 15.5

The Guardian and The Avatar

390 A.D., in the Library of Alexandria...

"Isn't this great, 'Nissa?" said the ebullient Cassidy to her friend. Both women were clothed in the togas common of the time.

"What's so great about it? We're just chauffeurs! Well, I am! I don't know why you're here!" said the perturbed Guardian of the Heart.

"Are you kidding me?" said the happy-go-lucky Water Guardian. "We're in ancient Egypt! How cool is that?"

"So Halinor can retrieve some musty old text for the Council of Candracar before crazy rioters burn the place to the ground!" grumbled Nerissa. "So now we're a salvage operation?"

"Oh, don't be that way!" Cassidy chastised her companion. "The Oracle said we were doing so well as Guardians, even me (and who'd a thunk that, back in the day?), that he showed you how to unlock time! You can't tell me that isn't the most awesome thing ever! It's too bad Kadma had to go help on Zamballah and Yan Lin had family issues back in China! They would have loved to be here, too!"

"It doesn't bother you that the Council knew all along the Heart of Candracar can travel through time and they only just got around to telling us? What else are they hiding from us?" said the conspiratorial Nerissa.

"Nerissa! You know we can't travel through time on a whim! Only in special cases!" said Cassidy, as the two women wandered outside onto the grounds of the Library and adjoining Temple. " Or..."

"I know! I know! Or we can change time! I'm not a fool! But what else..." Nerissa replied, but was stopped short by an angry glare from a passerby.

"Pagan scum!" spat the (not very) Christian, who was more modestly dressed than the two Guardians.

"Cassidy. Inside. Now." ordered the protective Nerissa.

Both women then hurried back into the relative safety of the Library.

Nerissa wasn't exactly having the best time of her life right then. She had been through much, yet could sense there was so much more to experience, so much more she should know. She had a power she barely understood, but the Council would only reveal the secrets of the Heart in dribs and drabs.

She needed time to think.

Alone!

"Cassidy, why don't you find Halinor and see if she needs any assistance locating those texts? I'll be along shortly. I have to...find the ladies room." said Nerissa, telling a white lie.

"Okay, 'Nissa! See you soon!" Cassidy said, waving goodbye.

Strolling through the Library, trying to organize her thoughts, Nerissa...

...bumped into someone.

And down went all the scrolls and manuscripts the woman was carrying!

"Oh! I'm sorry! Let me get those for you!" said the apologetic Nerissa, bending down to pick up the errant scrolls.

"Thanks!" replied the female scholar. "Hey, I haven't seen you in the lecture halls! New here? My name's Hypatia!"

"Hello, Hypatia. I'm Nerissa. And I am new here. Quite new." said the disguised Guardian.

"Oh. Well, you better finish your studies quickly! There's a rumor the Patriarch wants to close the Temples! Although I'll believe that when I see it! This place has been here for hundreds of years! It's not about to end now!" Hypatia informed Nerissa. "Gotta go! My dad needs these! He's got this theory, although I've got a few of my own! Whatever, the quest for knowledge continues!"

"Yes. One would hope." replied Nerissa.

The Guardian leader knew what the young scholar did not. That the Dark Ages were about to descend upon the world. And she could do nothing to stop it.

That women like Hypatia once existed, scholars who explored the mysteries of the universe (women just like her, that is), but were beaten down by time and oppression, not to rise again for hundreds of years, only served to deepen Nerissa's funk.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Nerissa saw...something.

Something that shouldn't have been there!

A dark figure.

Huge. Imposing.

And so out of place!

"Hello? Is there someone there?" said Nerissa, as she walked behind a wall of scrolls in a remote corner of the Library.

And then she saw it.

A giant owl!

"Who the heck are you?" she demanded to know.

"I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things." the Owl replied. "And you seem strangely unaffected by my presence."

"I've seen weirder on Meridian!" snapped Nerissa. "Now why are you here?"

"I've never heard of this Meridian you speak of." said Wan Shi Tong. "Although I have been to many realms, always on the hunt for new learning to add to my collection. The Director of this Library wrote a fascinating essay on trepidation of the equinoxes. Did you know that?"

"You didn't come here to get an essay on equinoxes!" said the suspicious Guardian.

"No. I suppose I did not." admitted the Great Owl. "Like you, I am here seeking hidden knowledge. In fact, I can tell you of the power behind that jewel you wear. I knew the creator, Xin Jing."

"You knew Xin Jing??" gasped Nerissa. "But she lived..."

"Over a thousand years ago. Yes, I know. I am a long-lived Spirit of Knowledge." replied Wan Shi Tong.

"A knowledge spirit, eh?" pondered Nerissa. "Then maybe..."

"I shall be happy to tell you more. Return later...without your friends. I shall take you to my world and tell you all I know of Xin Jing. In return, I only ask you to help a friend of mine who is in great need of your services."

"Yeah?" Nerissaa considered the request. It didn't take her long to make a decision. "You have a deal, Wan Shi Tong!"

After performing their errand for the Oracle, Nerissa took Halinor and Cassidy home.

Then, finally alone, Nerissa created an altermere of herself (yet another new ability of the Heart recently revealed to the leader of the Guardians) to take her place and used the Heart of Candracar to travel back in time to Alexandria, Egypt, where she met Wan Shi Tong and journeyed with him to his world.

But things did not go as either planned.

"Why are you unable to do this simple thing?" inquired Wan Shi Tong, as Nerissa, practicing, was unsuccessful in her attempt to give life, spirited or otherwise, to a potted tree.

"I don't know!" cried Nerissa. "Inanimate objects, chairs, tables, whatever, I have no problem with! Electrics? Easy! But organics...I don't understand it!" said the exasperated Guardian.

"My love, forget this folly!" said Kameshe to Wan Shi Tong. "I do not need to be restored to the Spirit World! We are fine here on Earth."

"No, Kameshe. You, of all of us, deserve to regain your former status." Wan Shi Tong pleaded. "The people here do not listen to you! Look how they fracture into four nations and make war! The Spirit World truly needs your special touch! Hei Bai tries, but he can not match your skill!"

"Is he planting flowers out of season again?" giggled Kameshe. "Seriously, Wan, the people need me. I know they can be better than this! They just need a safe place where they can live together. I'm thinking of building just such a place, in the Southern Swamp. Give them a chance."

"Alright, Kameshe. I will give them another chance. If you will give me one." bartered Wan Shi Tong. "If Nerissa can return you to the Spirit World, I will take you back to Earth as often as you wish."

"Thank you, my love!" said the appreciative Spirit of Growing Things, as she planted one on her mate.

And if the story had ended there...If Nerissa had been successful...All would have been well.

But she couldn't...And it wasn't.

Nerissa, frustrated with her failure, and upset with Wan Shi Tong for telling her what amounted to fables and bedtime stories about Xin Jing (she did not understand that was the nature of Xin Jing on this world, so different from her own), set off to discover more about the world of the Avatar.

She found the hybrid monsters...fascinating, the people warm, and the bending...interesting (although it couldn't hold a candle to her abilities!)

Having learned from Wan how to traverse the dimensions (and having already mastered time travel), Nerissa flew back and forth from the world of the Avatar and her own surprisingly easy. In fact, she could return mere moments after she left Heatherfield, rendering her altermere substitution moot. She didn't need the double, after all.

She found herself spending weeks, sometimes months, at a time on the Avatar's world. It helped her relax, and forget her troubles back home.

And then...she met the Avatar himself, Wen Tao!

Dashing, confident, skilled in all martial arts and bending, disciplined...and he had a sense of humor!

To say they were nothing alike, and fought constantly, would be an understatement.

Which proved no impediment to their falling in love, of course!

She briefly considered never returning to her Earth.

What did she have there?

No family.

Needy friends.

A demanding 'boss' in the Oracle!

She thought she had found 'the real thing' here on this Asiatic paradise.

It was the most wonderful time in her life!

With Wen, she traveled the world, performing amazing feats wherever they went!

In fact, most of the great deeds attributed to Wen Tao were really due to Nerissa's involvement.

Ending the War Between Nations.

Clearing the Serpents' Pass of the hundreds of seabeasts that threatened all who journeyed there (eliminating them, and their land-locked, legged cousins, the Dragons, which caused the first wall to be built around Ba Sing Se, led to the great growth of that city).

Digging the Great Divide to provide a safe path for pilgrims to travel eastward (for a few hundred years before the Canyon Crawlers moved in, anyway).

And so many more!

Then the differences between the Guardian and the Avatar, so charming at first, were, naturally, no impediment to their falling OUT of love, of course!

"What do you mean 'it's over', Wen?" Nerissa pointedly asked him.

"I can not travel with you anymore, Nerissa." Wen sadly stated. "It is not working. We are too different, you and I!"

"It's Pukak, isn't it?" Nerissa railed. "That useless troll has been against me ever since we met!"

"No, Nerissa! Do not blame this on my good friend Pukak!" defended Wen. "It was not Pukak who took the bridge out at Kyoshi Pass!"

"Should I have let the armies of the Emperor capture you, Wen? Would that have been a better outcome?" she challenged him.

"You should have found another way, Nerissa! The people of the Kyoshi peninsula depended on that bridge to travel back and forth to the mainland! Now they are stranded!" Wen admonished her.

"The bridge can be rebuilt!" Nerissa exclaimed. "By earth benders, or..."

"No, Nerissa. It is much too long for any earth bender to reconstruct! It will take engineers months to rebuild!" replied the angry Wen. "And you can not do it! Your powers are much better suited for destruction, Nerissa! Not only that, but you're careless! You think only of yourself, and your own happiness!" Wen charged.

"That's not true!" cried Nerissa. "I can create! See?" she said, pointing to a pot on their campsite which she then made dance.

"Nerissa, please. Do not make me say it again." said Wen, with a heavy heart. "Whatever you were looking for here, it is time you went home! Goodbye."

"No! You're wrong, Wen!" said Nerissa, to herself, as Wen and Pukak moved on. "And I'll prove it to you!"

Staying in the Earth Kingdom, Nerissa traveled hither and yon, doing good deeds.

But she never mastered the ability to create things.

Then, one day, she ran into...

...the forces of the Emperor!

"Stay back, curs!" Nerissa commanded the men gathered around the caravan flying the banner of the Emperor. "Return to your master and tell him he's not wanted here!"

"That will be difficult for them." said the man inside the tented caravan, as he beckoned the troops to stand away from the Guardian.

"And who are you, that speaks so for the hated Emperor, aged one?" needled Nerissa. "His lackey?"

"Hardly." said the old man. "I am Emperor Quo Jin, Nerissa! And I need your help!"

Nerissa was flabbergasted!

She knew the Emperor mostly from what Wen Tao told her, and the run-ins they had with his army.

She had never set eyes on him before!

And the tale he told her, of the Spirit World conspiring against the people of the world, she could scarce believe!

But he showed her evidence, and witnesses aplenty!

How the earth spirit Wa-Mu destroyed people's homes in earthquakes!

How Shui She the water snake crushed island villages in his coils!

And more!

So much more!

(The fact it was cherry-picked evidence, which ignored the offense the people had committed against the Spirits to earn their wrath, and totally left out the great good the Spirits had done, which more than made up for the few offenses, such as Shui She squeezing underground water out of a desert for a group of sand benders, was hidden from Nerissa).

And Nerissa, after her own bad experience with the Knowledge Spirit Wan Shi Tong, was only too quick to believe the Emperor's charges.

So she agreed to aid Emperor Quo Jin in his war against the Spirit World, although she had no idea how she would accomplish such a task.

Nerissa had only one stipulation - that her actions could only affect the Spirit World, not the physical world, which the aged Emperor quickly agreed to.

Then Quo Jin showed Nerissa his Terracotta Warrior Army.

"is this a joke, old man?" dared Nerissa. "How are a bunch of statues going to defeat the Spirit World?"

"You can animate clay, yes?" said Quo Jin. "Then all you are missing is the spark of life! I built my Tomb over a graveyard of ancient Earth Kings! So all you need do is recall their Spirits to serve us once more in the bodies we have provided them!"

"Raise the dead? You think I can do that??" wondered Nerissa.

"Yes, you can, Nerissa. All the signs point to it." replied Emperor Quo Jin. "I am old, Nerissa, and near my end. But through you, we will achieve immortality, and preserve the Earth Kingdom forever!"

_Yes! _thought Nerissa. _Wen will be so proud of me!_

However, Wen Tao was anything but!

The recently deceased Quo Jin and his Nerissa-produced Spirit Army went on a rampage in the Spirit World, sowing destruction wherever they went!

Many Spirits fell before their might!

Many others became refugees in their own land, or went into hiding in the physical world!

The Staff of Jade was useless! That particular weapon was designed for defense against physical invaders of the Spirit World, not other Spirits! And fueled as they were by Nerissa's Heart of Candracar, which was all that remained of her world's Xin Jing, the Spirit Warriors were able to violate the edict of that world's Xin Jing - that no Spirit may harm another Spirit!

All the Spirits cried out to the Avatar, bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds, to release them from their agony!

Dumbfounded, Wen Tao consulted the only Spirit he could find on Earth.

Kameshe, the Spirit of Growing Things, in her Swamp!

"What shall I do, Kameshe?" said the wise yet humble Avatar. "It seems beyond my power to affect!"

"Travel to the place where the Spirit Army was 'born', Avatar Wen Tao." bade Kameshe. "And I shall aid you there. Together, we shall return the army to the soil that birthed them."

Wen Tao did as he was told, as he had no inkling of Kameshe's real plan.

Meanwhile, Wan Shi Tong, worried for the safety of his love, journeyed to her Swamp to be with her in this time of crisis, only to find her gone.

"Kameshe? Where did you go?" he wondered.

As Kameshe was the Spirit of Growing Things, she, like Xin Jing who created her, possessed the power of life...and death.

And Kameshe knew, with the death of Xin Jing all those years ago, that only she, alone among the Spirits, could end the threat of the Spirit Warriors.

But the price...

Didn't matter.

More than the Spirit World was at stake! When the Spirit Army was done terrorizing the denizens of the Spirit World and had bent them all to his will, Emperor Quo Jin intended to turn his attention back to the physical world, using the subjugated Spirits as his shock troops! He had vowed to Nerissa not to use his Spirit Army against the physical world, but his new spirit 'subjects' made no such promise!

Using Avatar Wen Tao as her bridge to the Spirit World, Kameshe's power once more flooded that realm.

But for a purpose she never intended!

One by one, the Spirit Warriors fell, Kameshe's power to destroy the fruits of the earth brought to bear in full against the once-clay soldiers!

Their spirits fled their now-destroyed bodies, to rest once again in the ground beneath the Tomb of Quo Jin!

And all that remained of the once-mighty army...were the Terracotta clay statues of a mad Emperor.

Kameshe's fellow earth spirit, the worm Wa-Mu, buried the Tomb in an earthquake so none could ever repeat the folly of Emperor Quo Jin.

What of the Spirit of Growing Things?

"Kameshe! We did it!!" exulted Wen Tao. But there was no answer. "Kameshe?"

It had taken all of the Plant Spirit's power to end the unique and serious threat of the Spirit Army.

She was gone.

"Kameshe?" said the worried Wan Shi Tong, in his love's special place, the Swamp she constructed for the people of Earth. He could no longer feel her presence in the world. Only faint echoes. "Kameshe!!" he cried.

As for Nerissa, once the Oracle found out what she did, she was only saved by the entreaties of her friends, who argued Nerissa was merely trying to help and didn't fully understand the situation.

Nerissa remained a Guardian, but the Heart was stripped of the power to travel through time.

It was the first time she had failed, and Nerissa vowed it would be the last!

Because of her failure, though, an entire plane of existence, the Spirit World, was decimated, and a Great Spirit was lost!

Arguing for protection, the spirits of past Avatars convinced the Oracle to put a Veil between the Guardians' world and the world of the Avatar, a strong Veil to prevent any more contamination of their world.

The other Guardians were surprised at the mercy shown Nerissa, that she could continue in her role as a Guardian, but they were unaware of the true reason Nerissa was spared...

...the guilt of the Oracle!

"I fear we have made a serious error, Tibor!" said the ancient wise man.

"You knew Nerissa, in fact all of the Guardians, must go through their trials alone, Oracle, or they will never achieve their potential!" replied the wizened Tibor.

"I know, old friend, I know! But perhaps if Nerissa's trial was constructed differently, she could have made wiser choices." said the being once known as Himerish. "I have much to meditate upon."

"Nerissa will learn from this experience, Oracle." said Tibor.

"I hope you are right, Tibor. I hope and pray you are right." answered the Oracle.

_We now return you to our regularly-scheduled story._

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"What does Nerissa have to do with this??" asked Hay Lin.

"Nerissa created the Spirit Warriors for Emperor Quo Jin 1,600 years ago." answered Prosecutor Ying Lao. "And she did it with your Heart!" he said, accusingly, to the Energy Guardian.

"Whoa, whoa, eagleface! The Nerissa we know looked pretty ancient, but even she wasn't _that_ old!" argued Will.

"She admitted her crimes, and was punished by your Oracle!" declared Ying Lao, presenting damning evidence. "It was Nerissa who first terrorized our world, and made the Spirit World unsafe for our kind!"

"Will, do you know what this means? Nerissa traveled through time!" said Hay Lin to her Guardian associate.

"Yeah, looks like we'll have a lot to talk about at the next Guardians reunion, huh?" replied the darkly comic Will Vandom to her friend.

"What Nerissa did was terrible, but it doesn't prove our guilt!" countered Will, speaking to the Spirit Court. "So let us go!"

"I was just about to get to that." replied the crafty Ying Lao. "And Prince Zuko."

Meanwhile, Cornelia's and Irma's journey aboard Kangxi's and Puyi's ostrichhorse steeds took them near the edge of a forest. They passed many trees with hanging, ripened fruit.

"You talk a lot about your master, Kangxi. What about you?" Cornelia asked the horseman.

"I once had a privileged life, and yet lived to serve. As I do now." replied Kangxi, in an emotionless monotone.

"Oh. I see." said Cornelia. She was surprised by his reply. The brave swordsman sounded...odd. Not like the charming, full of life Kangxi of earlier.

Corny happened to glance over at Irma, who was on Puyi's steed. Irma met her gaze.

Then Irma...

...plucked one of the over-ripened, oversized pears from a hanging branch, smashed it on Puyi's head, and took off, running into the forest!

"Irma!!" Cornelia yelped.

"Eh? Is something wrong, Lady Cornelia?" said Kangxi, stopping his ostrich and turning his head to look at Cornelia, instead of at his fellow, Puyi, who lay on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Kangxi." said Cornelia, leaning in closer to the handsome soldier on horseback.

"Sorry? For what?" said the puzzled Kangxi, gazing into Cornelia's eyes, lost for the moment in those glittering blue orbs...

...and totally missing what she had in her hand!

"For this!" Cornelia yelled, pasting him in the side of his head with one of the large, round fruits!

It split open easily (the fruit, not Kangxi's head), and knocked Kangxi off his ostrich!

Cornelia then ran after Irma, escaping into the forest, but not without first kicking Puyi, who was attempting to get up, to prevent pursuit of the two girls!

"Sorry!" said the chagrined Cornelia, as her foot met Puyi's helmeted head. And she was sorry. Well, a little sorry, anyway.

In the Spirit Court, Prosecutor Ying Lao, the eaglerat, continued hammering away at the Guardians' claim of innocence.

"It was Prince Zuko who resurrected the Spirit Warriors, using your Heart of Candracar, a Heart you were unable to protect! And because of that, violent, armed combatants ran wild through our streets, destroying our structures and attacking our fellow Spirits! Do you deny it?" charged Ying Lao.

"No. That did happen." admitted a contrite Will Vandom. "And I'm sorry for what your people suffered! But you have the wrong person in this courtroom!" she insisted.

"Do we?" said the sly Prosecutor Spirit. "Then how do you explain your actions?"

"What are you talking about?" said an infuriated Hay Lin. "Will's only ever helped people! She didn't hurt anyone!"

"Hay Lin..." cautioned Will, who had an inkling of what the Prosecutor was getting at.

"No, Will, it's like you said! None of this is your fault! They can't blame you for whatever happened to them!" Hay Lin railed.

"Oh, you misunderstand us, girl." smirked Ying Lao. "Your precious Will isn't on trial for what happened to the Spirit World, although she bears some culpability for that. She's here because of the Spirits she directly harmed!"

"What??" said the confused Hay Lin. "Again, what are you talking about??"

"He's talking about the spirits I killed, Hay Lin." said the leader of the Guardians, head bowed in shame.

The entire courtroom gasped (except Ying Lao, who cackled), but no gasp was louder than Hay Lin's.

Up in the treetops of the forest, Irma took a bite of a piece of fruit.

And promptly spit it out!

"Yuck! Tastes terrible!" she exclaimed.

Peering closely at the pear-like produce, Irma noticed specks of dirt all over it!

"Geez!" she said to herself. "How does something like this get so dirty? Does the Spirit World have a dirt tornado? How long has this thing been out here?"

"Irma, if you could stop talking about food for a second, I'm trying to hear if someone's coming!" said the irritated Earth Guardian, pressing her ear against the tree trunk.

"Excuse me!" harrumphed Irma.

"Shh!" cautioned Corny. "It sounds like horse hooves! Flatten yourself against the branches!" she warned her companion.

A pair of riders on ostrichhorseback rode up and stopped near the base of the tree Irma and Cornelia were hiding on.

It was Kangxi and Puyi!

"Still no sign of them! We'll need the others to aid our search!" announced Kangxi.

"You were much too easy on the girl!" complained Puyi. "You should have just taken her!"

"I did as our master instructed!" retorted Kangxi. "He said to bring her willingly, if possible!"

"Yes, well..." Puyi paused to spit a seed from one of the horrible fruits onto the ground. "Not an option anymore."

"No. It's not." agreed Kangxi. "Bring the men around. Do a full sweep. They can't have gotten far!"

Kangxi and Puyi then galloped away in opposite directions, their ostrichhorses kicking up the dirt and debris on the forest floor.

Then two stunned girls leapt out of the tree and went in a third direction.

"You're right! They are after us!" said Cornelia to her BFF. "Let's get moving! It's not safe to stay in one spot!"

"You." Irma corrected her Guardian friend. "They're after _you, _Cornelia!"

"Me? That's crazy!" replied Corny. "Why would they be after me?"

"You tell me." said the caustic Irma Lair, arms folded in annoyance.

Cornelia didn't have a response to that statement.

After a brief pause, Cornelia continued her escape preparations.

"Next time they catch up to us, there might not be any trees around." she began. "So gather up all the loose branches, twigs and leaves you can!" said Cornelia, stooping to pick up said branches and leaves.

"For camouflage?" asked Irma.

"Something like that." answered Cornelia Hale.

Back in the Spirit Court, Prosecutor Ying Lao summed up the case against Will.

"For knowingly destroying the Spirits of the Warriors on Earth, which she has admitted to, Will Vandom deserves the Court's sternest punishment!" declared eaglerat Ying Lao, the Prosecutor Spirit.

"Wait, your honor!" begged Hay Lin. "Will didn't know those clay guys were spirits! She did it to protect us! And, if she hadn't done her electrical zappy thing, you would have had even more crazy Spirit Warriors running around up here causing trouble!" said the frantic girl, seeking an out for her friend.

"Hay Lin..." Will admonished her.

But Hay Lin wasn't done!

"Some good defense attorney you are, Roku!" Hay Lin bitched to the silent former Avatar. "You're supposed to be helping her!"

"Hay Lin...stop!" ordered the Guardian leader.

"But, Will..." said the sad Air Guardian.

"I know. But it'll be okay." replied Will, wrapping her arms around her school chum and fellow Guardian.

"How can you say that?" whined Hay Lin.

"Will Vandom, you are hereby found guilty of crimes against the Spirit World!" announced Judge GroundPig. "I'll take a brief recess to consider your sentence."

In the Spirit World forest, a regiment of Spirit Warriors on ostrichhorses roared through the trees searching for Cornelia and Irma.

Then, one of them saw something, and pulled on the reins to stop his ostrich.

Dismounting the big bird, he stealthily crept toward a girl-sized pile of leaves and twigs.

Raising his sword, he then slashed at the leaf heap with the flat of the blade and uttered a hearty "Hi-yaa!"

Disappointed at finding naught in the center of the plant mass, he and his fellow soldiers left.

Departing, the warriors walked right past odd-shaped rocks lying on the ground in the shadow of the short trees that proliferated in the area.

Once they were gone, the 'rocks' stirred, and then changed shape!

The 'rocks' were the two Guardians, hiding under their robes!

"They walked right by us!" said the impressed Irma.

"They were looking for two girls, not two rocks." said Cornelia very matter of factly. "So they were drawn to the bunch of leaves that looked like a girl. They saw what they expected to see."

"Cool trick!" cheered Irma. "How'd you learn that?"

"From Jet." Cornelia flatly replied.

"So Jet was good for something after all!" Irma chortled.

"Everybody's good for SOMEthing, Irma! The problem is figuring out what that is." said the worldly-wise Guardian of Earth. "And Jet was certainly good at hiding! Hiding who he really was, hiding his manipulative, crazy schemes..." she mumbled.

"Man, these guys are sure hot to find us!" said Irma. "Why do you think that is?"

"I have no idea, Irma!" replied Cornelia, who was getting tired of Irma's line of questioning.

"Do you think this master guy they talked about is Phobos?" Irma speculated. "That could explain why he wants us!"

"Why would he be interested in us when we don't have our powers?" scoffed Cornelia. "No, Phobos is most likely back on Meridian plotting something horrible against Elyon, so we better get out of here soon!"

"Great idea!" teased Irma. "So how do we do that?"

"I don't know." said the downbeat Corny.

"Yeah, well, me neither." echoed Irma.

"Then let's keep moving!" urged Cornelia, and the two Guardian comrades moved deeper into the forest.

In the Spirit Court, awaiting the fate of her friend, Hay Lin got all mopey.

"You know, Will, this summer I was going to ask you to teach me swimming." she said. "But now..."

"Come on, Hay Lin! We'll swim!" said Will, in a losing attempt to cheer her teammate up.

"But...(sniff) I'm sorry", said Hay Lin, wiping her eyes and fighting back the tears, "we never got the chance to be really good friends, you know? It's just...it's not fair!"

"Shhh." Will said, consoling her friend. "It's not over yet. There's still hope!"

Deep in the forest, a squadron of Spirit soldiers met with Shui She the watersnake.

"Even the Hawk can't find them, Great Snake!" the warrior reported to Shui She. "He claims the forest itself moves when he passes through, obscuring his vision!"

"It mussst be Hei Bai and Roku'sss doing!" hissed the snake. "Even I have noted how cloudy the water poolsss are! The foolsss are trying to hide the girl from usss! Hmmm. Hei Bai caresss for her! We may yet be able to ussse that to our advantage!"

"What shall we do, Great One?" asked the Spirit Warrior.

"Continue with your sssearch. They cannot hide from the forcesss of our massster forever!" replied Shui She. "I mussst be getting back to the Ssspirit Court, to ensure the proper outcome!"

Shui She then dove into a pool of water and disappeared, while the Spirit Army dispersed into the water-logged fen.

High above their meeting place, hidden in the dense, dark treetops of the Spirit World's marshy woods, two girls from a faraway land wondered what they did to deserve this.

"Did you see the size of that thing?" Irma crowed. "It was huge! And I didn't even see its tail!"

"Could you hear what they were talking about?" Cornelia wanted to know.

"Are you kidding me?" replied the Water Guardian. "I didn't want to get that close to that giant snake!"

"At least Kangxi isn't with them!" Cornelia lamented. "I can't believe he's a bad guy!"

"You really know how to pick 'em, Corny!" Irma said of the Earth Guardian's choice of boyfriends, more joke than serious comment.

"Yeah, I do, don't I?" Cornelia sadly replied, remembering Jet, among others. Then she paused for a moment, turned to Irma, smiled, and said "I picked you, for a friend."

"Wow!" Irma beamed. "That's got to be, like, the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!"

"And I picked Caleb to be my boyfriend! Major score for me there!" boasted Cornelia.

"Yeah, Caleb, was an excellent choice all right." agreed Irma Lair.

"But you're right about my boyfriend picks over the years, Irma. Remember Tommy Finnegan in the 5th grade?" mused Cornelia.

"Yeah, he was a total wigger, but I don't see what…" wondered Irma.

"His underwear was always sticking out of his pants, 'cause he thought it looked 'cool', then he got it caught on a splinter and his underwear tore and he had to go home?" laughed Corny, lost in thought. "And, oh, how about Jorge in 7th grade! You claimed he stared down my shirt all the time, and I didn't want to believe you, until you proved it with the photo from the cameraphone!"

'You know, Corny, it was fine when you said you picked me! No, better than fine! It was perfect! You could have stopped there! Instead, you bring up those losers! Why do you have to ruin everything?!" Irma fumed.

"What?? But I'm agreeing with you!!" said the mystified Guardian of Earth.

Cornelia noted the pain on Irma's face, and hesitated. She looked away, then glanced down at her feet for a moment, and thought about what she wanted to say next.

Finally, Cornelia turned to Irma and asked her longtime friend "Do you remember that day?"

"What day? The day we met?" inquired Irma.

"No. When we became friends." Cornelia clarified.

"How could I forget? It was 2nd grade, and you were all weepy, woe is me, because Elyon was in the hospital!" chirped Irma.

"Yeah. She had some weird Meridian spotted fever at the time, and the doctors had no idea on how to cure it! Her parents weren't worried, because it was common on Meridian and not life-threatening. But we didn't know that, and they couldn't exactly tell us!" explained Corny. "I thought she was going to die!"

"Then you decided to cheer me up…" said Cornelia, recalling the memory with a smile.

"That was Hay Lin's idea." Irma pointed out.

"So why'd you do it?" asked Cornelia.

"I had to do something!" Irma exclaimed. "You were harshing my 8-year old mellow!"

"Right. Whatever you say, Irma." Cornelia grinned.

_During elementary school recess, one young girl with blonde hair sat by herself and absentmindedly brushed her long, blonde hair._

_"Look at Cornelia! She's all alone!" said Hay Lin._

_"Cornelia Hale? So?" snapped Irma._

_"So her friend Elyon is in the hospital! Let's go talk to her!" replied the bouncy Hay Lin_

_"Yeah, okay! Elyon's nice." said Irma, giving in._

_Instead of striking up a conversation, Irma took Cornelia's brush, pulled out some blonde hairs and said "Ooh, look! Blonde cooties!"_

_"I do not have cooties, Irma Lair!" ranted the young Cornelia._

_Then Irma grabbed one of Uriah's toys and pantomined an attack by the hairs on the 'action figure'. "Oh no! Blonde cooties! They got me! Ughhh!" said Irma as she wrapped the golden hairs around the neck of the toy soldier._

_Uriah did not exactly agree with this use of his personal possession. "Hey!" he exclaimed."Give that back!"_

_"Oh, calm down, Uriah, I'm not going to hurt your dollie!" cracked Irma._

_"It's not a dollie! It's an action figure!" said the offended Uriah._

_But Irma's actions had the desired effect._

_Corny turned her frown upside down._

_"Ha ha ha ha!" she laughed._

_Irma gave Uriah his 'action figure' back, prompting a typical Uriah response "Ew! Now it's got girl germs!"_

_The girls talked, and Cornelia asked Hay Lin and Irma if they wanted to go with her and her parents to see Elyon in the hospital. They readily agreed, and then Cornelia invited her two new friends to her home after the hospital visit._

"I was surprised you took me up on my offer!" said the present day Cornelia. "I always got the feeling you didn't like me!"

"Ah, I didn't even know you!" said Irma, dismissing the thought. "Besides, you had satellite, which was way better than cable TV! I wasn't going to pass that up!"

Though it may appear Irma helped Cornelia much more than the other way around, their relationship was never one-sided. Many was the time Cornelia bailed Irma out of some trouble she had gotten herself into. Not that Irma ever asked her to. But the young Miss Lair couldn't exactly refuse the aid. Which just added to the complexity of their bond. Things had always come easy for Cornelia Hale, the girl born with a silver spoon, fork, knife, etc in her mouth. Which is not to say she didn't work hard for what she achieved. But Cornelia attacked things like math or ice skating with a cheerful gusto, and didn't let difficulty or failure get her down. Also, she had no problem accepting assistance of any kind. Irma, however, was a different story. Irma's struggles affected her deeply and, full of pride, she resented Corny's help, leading to the strains and the bickering which became a constant source of irritation to Cornelia, who responded in kind. Though both knew they didn't really mean it, it was hard to stop after a while. Like spinster sisters who had lived too long together in the same house, their love for each other was sometimes unrecognizable. But it was there.

Such was the push and pull of their friendship, to always alternate between annoyed spitefulness and loving collegiality, often with no stops elsewhere on the scale.

(And while you may think of 'push and pull' in water terms alone, as descriptors of the action of the ocean and the moon, never forget the moon is only an errant piece of earth.)

"I know I don't say this enough." said the grateful Corny. "Thanks for being my friend, Irma."

"Yeah, yeah." Irma downplayed the sentiment.

"What's wrong? Afraid I'll 'harsh your mellow'?" joked Cornelia.

"Ha ha." replied the acerbic Miss Lair.

With the coast finally clear of Spirit Soldiers, snakes, hawks and whatever else was after them, Cornelia and Irma jumped out of the tree they were hiding in.

Landing on a dry spot of the swamp, Corny crushed a row of daffodils underfoot. Then she noticed something odd.

"Huh. Look at that." said the Earth Guardian.

"What?" inquired Irma.

"The plants, the daffodils. I stepped in them. There should be sap all over my foot! But there's no mess. Nothing!" Cornelia explained.

"Maybe it's a sapless daffodil, special to the Spirit World?" suggested the Water Guardian.

"No. I don't think so." replied Corny, bending to pick some up. "It's like, they appear to be alive...but they're dead inside." she said, examining the oddly dry, sap-free daffodils in her hand.

"What does that mean?" asked the confused Irma.

"I don't know." said the worried Guardian of Earth. "But it can't be anything good!"

Back in the Spirit Court, Judge GroundPig entered the courtroom and walked to his bench to proclaim Will's sentence.

Shui She the watersnake was there, having just returned from his brief sojourn to his master and his master's Spirit Army forces.

All of the Spirits in attendance were breathless with anticipation.

Hay Lin was nervous. More nervous than Will, and Hay Lin wasn't even on trial!

Will grasped Hay Lin's hand. "Courage, Hay Lin." she said.

Avatar Roku sat motionless.

"Will Vandom..." intoned Judge GroundPig. "For your crimes against the Spirit World, you are hereby banished forever!"

The Judge (now in his role as Mayor, and Protector of the Spirit World) held up his Staff of Jade and dissolved Will and Hay Lin's bonds.

"Now go, and never again harm a spirit!" he ordered. Mayor GroundPig also levitated the sack holding the Heart of Candracar in front of him.

"You're letting us go??" Will gasped in shock and surprise.

"Eee! We did it!" Hay Lin celebrated, giving Will a big bear hug!

But before the Mayor could give the Heart back to the stunned Guardian, an enraged Shui She attacked the nominal leader of the Spirit World!

"You're sssetting them free? Fool!" he hissed, his mighty serpent's form wrapping itself around the Mayor. "They dessserve to be punished!"

Then Will and Hay Lin, unaware Shui She couldn't really harm the Mayor, soared to his defense!

"Hey! Leave him alone, future handbag!" barked the Energy Guardian, as she wrestled with the giant snake while Hay Lin attempted to pull the Mayor free of his reptilian clutches.

"Away, whelps!" Shui She yelled, snapping his massive girth towards the Guardians. Fast-moving Hay Lin was able to dodge the quick strike, but her teammate was not as fortunate. The snake's huge body hit the young Guardian leader with sufficient force to send her flying!

Will crashed into the wall with a loud **WHAK**, then she dropped to the ground...

...And didn't move.

"Will?" Hay Lin called out to her companion. They had been in plenty of battles before. The Guardian of Air fully expected Will to reply with a crack about snake leather being tougher than she thought, or something equally stupid, and all would be right with the world. But there was no response to her entreaties. "Will?!" cried Hay Lin as she raced to her friend's side, truly concerned now for the redhead's wellbeing.

Examining the still Will Vandom as she lay upon the floor of the Spirit Court, Hay Lin uttered words she never wanted to hear, ever!

"She's, she's not breathing!" the Air Guardian hollered, as she could see no up and down chest movement, nor feel any expulsion of air from the injured girl's mouth or nose. Then Hay Lin felt for a pulse, and any beating within the Guardian leader's chest. She found none. "Oh no! Her heart's stopped!"

"She's dead. Will is dead!" wailed Hay Lin, over the prostrate body of her friend and teammate.

Having no further reason to stay, Shui She the watersnake exited the Spirit Court to report back to his master.

At that same time, Irma and Cornelia happened upon a clearing in the dense, swampy forest.

A clearing with a field of daffodils, a banyan tree, a pool of water and, under the tree, the Spirits Kaki Tori (the fire phoenix), Wa-Mu (the worm), Yue, Roku's dragon, and...

"Hei Bai!!" Cornelia gleefully shouted, upon seeing the friendly face of the forest animal spirit among the group.

"Hello, daughter." Hei Bai said, in a calm yet strong voice, as Cornelia embraced the panda spirit.

"Daughter? You know, that's almost cute coming out of a big, cuddly panda bear, but still, kind of creepy!" Irma joked.

"No, Irma." Cornelia replied, in a serious tone. "He's right. I can't deny it anymore."

"Huh?" said the puzzled Water Guardian.

"I am his daughter." admitted the Earth Guardian. "I'm the Plant Spirit!"

And with those revelatory four words, Cornelia's appearance changed!

Though still humanoid, her golden tresses sprouted green leaves.

Her skin acquired a bark-like texture.

Her torso became a tree trunk.

Her arms and legs became branches.

And flowers blossomed from various buds on her new, botanical form.

"No...No!" Irma screamed.

_Well..._

_One bombshell followed by another!_

_To be continued!_

_(Obviously!)_

_If you think things are crazy now, wait till you see what happens _

_Next:_

_The Spirit Warrior Army masses for one final attack!_

_Irma freaks out!_

_And Hay Lin does, probably, the greatest thing ever!_

_(and it doesn't have anything to do with Will!)_

_In the first part of the conclusion to this epic tale!_

_(and I have even more surprises planned for the future!)_

_It's a doozy!_

_Here's the title...Smells Like Teen Spirit!_

Notes

What happened to Will…I never intended that. I never wanted that. But we'll all have to deal with it.

How 'bout that Wan Shi Tong, eh? Wan's a lover, not a fighter!

Southern Dragon Claw (fire), Baguazhang (air), Hung Gar (earth), Tai Chi (water) and Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis (Toph) are all martial arts used by the various benders. "Foggy Swamp Style" is a quote from "The Library" episode.

Cornelia means 'horn', as in 'horn of plenty', or cornucopia. You know that silly-looking thing with food falling out of it that you see on Thanksgiving decorations? That's it.

Notice they want to try Irma for 'impersonating a Spirit', but not Cornelia.

Xin Jing's father was the Jade Emperor, who cruelly bound the Four Dragons in the Guardians' world. It is not known if the Four Dragons existed on the Avatar's world, but apparently the Jade Emperor there had the same ability to negate their power.

It's possible the Staff of Jade was the Jade Emperor's staff of discipline that he used on his daughter, Xin Jing, when she disobeyed him. But revealing that would change the tone of the story, and make it a bit more adult than I intended.

Hypatia's father, Theon, was the last director of the Library of Alexandria before it was closed (along with all of the pagan temples) by order of the Christian Emperor Theodosius in 391 A.D., an order carried out by the patriarch of Alexandria, Theophilus. According to some accounts, the Library was burned down by Christian rioters, and Hypatia herself was made a pagan martyr. Not exactly kiddie fare, but I don't think kids should be shielded from tragedy.

Yes, Wan took a trip to the Library of Alexandria. That's how he got those manuscripts Taranee found in his Library in Chapter 11. (Wan Shi Tong's specialty is traveling to other worlds. Look how easily he transported his Spirit Library back to the Spirit World in Avatar Episode 2-10. All he had to do was flap his wings).

In 390 A.D., Hypatia was about as old as the Guardians. All were in their early 20s, and Nerissa & Co. had been Guardians for a few years.

"She found herself spending weeks, sometimes months, at a time on the Avatar's world". That's why Nerissa is so much older!

Pukak is a member of the Water Tribe who hangs with Avatar Wen Tao. 'Pukak' is Inuit for 'snow crust'. I wanted a name that meant stupid (to make him more like Sokka), but I couldn't find an Inuit word for that.

Kyoshi _peninsula_? This is set hundreds of years before Avatar Kyoshi broke the Kyoshi area away from the mainland and turned it into an island.

This tale explains why Nerissa can raise the dead (like Cassidy in Season 2).

Nerissa's 'trial'? You know what this means! The Guardians were set up from the beginning! And their final fate isn't assured! They could fail horribly like Nerissa! Yikes!

The fruit has been overripe for years (and years and years). That's why it tastes terrible.

Disguising yourself as a rock is an old ninja trick. See, I'm getting the Asian stuff in there!

Will 'killed' the spirits of the warriors when she un-animated their Terracotta form in Chapter 27.

This chapter includes major friendship props for Cornelia and Irma. I really like that part.

Skilled spirits can disappear at one point in the Spirit World and re-appear somewhere else. So it's hard to find Spirits if they don't want to be found.


	55. Smells Like Teen Spirit

**Author's Note: This chapter is a bit of a change of pace. It goes places I didn't expect. But it came out exceedingly well. (Some of my best writing, IMHO). Besides, I didn't start this thing to write every chapter the same way. I like to mix it up. **

Chapter 37: Smells Like Teen Spirit

(Getting all Spiritual in the Spirit World)

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but _you_ shall be the miracle.

- Phillips Brooks

(emphasis mine)

"Come on, Will!" Hay Lin pleaded, as she used the CPR training her grandmother had wisely signed her up for. The Air Guardian tilted her friend's head back and listened for breathing. Not finding any, Hay Lin pinched Will's nose and covered the girl's mouth with her own. Hay Hay blew into Will for one second. Will's chest rose. Then Hay Lin repeated the breath.

As Will was still unresponsive, Hay Lin next began applying chest compression. She pushed down on Will's chest 1.5-2 inches, 30 times, right between the nipples, pumping at the rate of 100/minute, faster than once per second.

"It's not working!" Hay Lin wailed. "I'm the freakin' Guardian of Air! Why can't I give the Breath of Life??" she moaned.

The Spirits in the courtroom who had gathered to see the one they blamed for their troubles receive justice were conflicted. On the one hand, they felt Will got what she deserved. But, on the other hand, there was the pain on Hay Lin's face, a face so like that of their creator, Xin Jing. It was sad. So terribly, terribly sad.

The weary Hay Lin continued the CPR. She leaned over Will to give her two more breaths.

_Darkness enveloped Will. Where was she?_

_Then, a figure separated itself from the darkness. A girl?_

_"Who are you?" Will asked._

_"Forgive." the girl said._

_"Forgive?? Forgive who?" Will wanted to know._

_The girl said nothing. She merely pointed._

_Will turned her head in the direction indicated, and saw..._

_...A dragon!_

_The dragon roared, and out of his mouth, fire issued forth!_

_Will recoiled in fear, and instinctively covered her head with her arms to shield her from the flames!_

_But there was no heat. No fire at all._

_Only a...cold wind._

_A wind that grew stronger and stronger!_

"I can't...She's gone!" cried Hay Lin, resigned to the fact her friend was dead.

The Spirits crowded around Hay Lin and grieved with her. Mayor GroundPig placed the sack containing the Heart of Candracar next to Will's prone form, an act similar to the way in which people leave mementoes and remembrances of those lost at car crash sites.

"Perhaps all is not lost, young one." said Roku.

"What are you talking about? She's dead!" Hay Lin yelled.

"In any other land, perhaps. If this had happened on Earth, her spirit would have fled her body, and she would have died. It is to your good fortune she was injured in the Spirit World. Here, her soul had nowhere to go, and so remains inside her." the spirit of Avatar Roku explained.

"Good?? It's 'good' she was killed here? Are you insane?!" Hay Lin raged.

So angry was the Air Guardian, she almost didn't notice a small spark run down Will's arm to her hand.

Almost.

"What the??" Hay Lin gasped. "But, her powers, we don't have them here!"

"That is not accurate." Roku intoned. "The creator of the Spirit World, Xin Jing, decreed that visitors from the physical world would experience a fog of the mind, to sow confusion and prevent them from harming any denizens of the Spirit World. For you and your associates, this must have manifested as blocking your abilities, a block that would not be in effect in your companion in her present state."

"So, we've had our powers all along, and you JUST NOW TELL US??" screamed the upset Hay Lin.

"There was no need to mention it before." said the dry Roku.

"No need? NO NEED?! We're on trial for our frickin' lives in this, this ZOO, and you..." railed Hay Lin, who ordinarily would never say anything so hurtful.

"Hold your anger for a moment, child. Do you not have more important matters to attend to?" Avatar Roku asked Hay Lin.

"What?" Hay Lin blinked. She remembered Will, and her rage fell away. Looking down at her leader's prostrate form, Hay Lin saw more sparks flit about the Energy Guardian's right hand. "Wait! I could..." she snapped, as an idea formed in her head.

Picking up Will Vandom's right arm, Hay Lin held it over the young Guardian's heart.

"Please, God, let this work!!" Hay Lin prayed.

Then she jabbed Will's hand onto her heart, using it like a defibrillator!

There was a loud electrical zap - **KRACKL!! **- and smoke, as the blast fried some of the Guardian's clothing fibers, and then...

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"_Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope_." - Reinhold Niebuhr

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

In the forest glade, an _extremely shocked _Irma Lair came to grips with the changes in her friend Cornelia.

She replayed the scene in her mind. It was like a dream. Or worse.

_"Hello, daughter." Hei Bai said, in a calm yet strong voice, as Cornelia embraced the panda spirit._

_"Daughter? You know, that's almost cute coming out of a big, cuddly panda bear, but still, kind of creepy!" Irma joked. _

_"No, Irma." Cornelia replied, in a serious tone. "He's right. I can't deny it anymore."_

_"Huh?" said the puzzled Water Guardian._

_"I am his daughter." admitted the Earth Guardian. "I'm the Plant Spirit!"_

_And with those revelatory four words, Cornelia's appearance changed!_

_Though still humanoid, her golden tresses sprouted green leaves._

_Her skin acquired a bark-like texture._

_Her torso became a tree trunk._

_Her arms and legs became branches._

_And flowers blossomed from various buds on her new, botanical form._

_"No...No!" Irma screamed._

In 1969, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross described the stages people go through as they deal with tragedy. Commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief, it's activated when one learns of death or impending death, but this is incorrect. Kübler-Ross originally applied these stages to any form of catastrophic personal loss or change. This could be unemployment, divorce, arrest, the death of a loved one or, as is the case here, finding out your friend is a tree.

Herewith, now, are the Five Stages of Receiving Catastrophic News, as experienced by Irma Lair.

Denial

"Come on, Corny! You're no 'Plant Spirit'! You only went along with that gag to get free stuff!" said Irma, making light of Cornelia's metamorphosis while recalling how they got the cart they traveled in during their stay in the Earth Kingdom.

"Irma...look at me." lectured Cornelia. "Of course I'm the Plant Spirit!"

"Okay, I humored you on the whole 'princess' thing, but this is too much!" said Irma.

Anger

"Kameko was needed." said Hei Bai, the Spirit of the Forest, as he stood next to his Spirit allies - Kaki Tori, Wa-Mu, Yue and Avatar Roku's dragon.

"Kameko?? Now you have a pet name for Cornelia?? And what do you mean she was needed?" Irma interrogated the forest spirit.

"Irma!" cautioned Cornelia, upset at the disrespectful tone Irma displayed towards the wise spirit.

"No, no, I want to hear this!" insisted Irma.

"Both physical and spirit worlds have suffered since the loss of our Spirit of Growing Things, Kameshe." stated Hei Bai, his great bulk standing amidst a field of daffodils beneath the great banyan tree. "There was a need for healing."

"So you decided Cornelia was your candidate to join the Leaf Brigade?" jeered Irma.

"Irma, they needed help!" argued the Earth Guardian.

"No, Cornelia, you don't get it!" said the angry Water Guardian. "They set this up from day one! Luring you in with all that 'save the forest' crap, then snatching us away from our friends!"

"We did not mean to deceive you." said the humble Hei Bai. "And our need is great! The fate of the Spirit World lies in the hands of the one known as Cornelia. But we did not separate your from your companions. That was the work of our adversary."

Bargaining

"You should have just asked us for our help straight out!" Irma blurted. "Instead of ...this." she added, indicating Cornelia's present condition.

"If you need help so badly, take me!" Irma implored the assembled Spirits. "Let me solve your problem! You don't need to do this to Corny!" she begged.

"Irma...It doesn't work that way." Cornelia soberly pointed out. "You can't do the things I can do. The things they need done."

Depression

"But, but, Corny, what about Tommy Finnegan? And Jorge? And, ya know, your _whole life_?" Irma cried.

"My appearance has changed, but I'm still the same person!" replied Cornelia the Tree Spirit. "And this isn't about them, is it?"

"How can I not feel like I'm losing you! Look at you!" said the despondent Irma Lair.

"I'm still your friend, Irma. That's never going to change!" Cornelia consoled her Guardian sister, hugging Irma while leaves fell out of her hair. "I'm not going to abandon you!"

Acceptance

"But how can you go back to Heatherfield looking like that?" Irma asked.

"I don't know. We'll think of something. After I finish my work here." Cornelia responded. "And I need your support, Irma. I don't know if I can pull this off all by myself. Can you do that for me?"

"Do you even have to ask? Whatever happens, I'll be here for you, Cornelia." said the somber yet serene Irma Lair, who felt as if a great weight had lifted off her shoulders.

"I know. Thank you." said Cornelia Hale as the two, great friends for years, hugged again.

Breaking the embrace, Irma had another question.

"So what's this major crisis they need you for?" she inquired.

"I'm not sure." answered the Guardian of Earth. "I think it has to do with the land, the soil, and..."

Then the girls noticed the Spirit Warriors assembling at the edges of the forest clearing. Soon, the soldier spirits surrounded the two Guardians and the five Spirits in the glade.

"Them, maybe?" Irma deadpanned. Then her mood grew darker as she realized just how many of the warriors there were! "Uh oh. That's it. We're dead!"

Back in the Spirit Court, a resurrection accompanied by a tiny bit of...unpleasantness.

"Ur-aghkk!" Will Vandom coughed, shocked back to life by her own power and spewing vomitous projectiles in the process.

"Will!! You're alive!!" screamed Hay Lin, as she wrapped her arms around her restored comrade. Then Hay Hay noticed the other effect of Will's return to the land of the living. "Ew! And getting spittup all over me! But I don't care!!" she added, hugging her friend so hard she almost punched Will's ticket for another trip to deadville.

"Hay Lin...what?" said the confused redhead.

"You were dead, but I used CPR on you and brought you back!" cheered Hay Lin.

"I...I was dead?" said the stunned Energy Guardian.

"Yeah. Your heart had stopped! But guess what? We still have our powers here! They only made us think we didn't have them! So I used your electric powers to zap you back to life!" Hay Lin explained.

"They took away our powers...and killed me?!" cried Will, in an accusatory tone, looking at the various Spirits in the courtroom with angry eyes.

Will gathered up the Heart of Candracar and placed it around her neck. The Spirits cringed, backing away from the Guardian of Energy, in terror of her awesome power.

Worried at what she was seeing, Hay Lin stopped her friend. "Will? What's going on with you?"

"What do you think, Hay Lin?" replied the justice-seeking Guardian, her hand caressing the Heart, feeling its power pulse beneath her fingertips. "They killed me! Anyone who does that, deserves to be punished, to..."

"Instead of using your great jewel for power, why not use it for illumination?" suggested Avatar Roku.

"What??" snapped Will, the former Avatar's words jolting her out of her self-absorbed state.

"Use your Heart to look at them, truly look at them. Peer into their souls." clarified Roku.

Will shined the light of the Heart of Candracar upon the Spirits, and saw them for who and what they were.

"They're...afraid? Of me?" said the surprised Guardian of the Heart. "But they don't have to be afraid of me. I would never hurt them!"

"How would they know that? They only know what your predecessor, Nerissa, did with the Heart." Roku commented. "The residents of the Spirit World lived in peace for many years...until Nerissa came. It was she who introduced fear into their lives, with her creation of the Spirit Warriors."

Will hesitated. "It's always about the Heart, isn't it?" she said, musing on the great gift, and awesome burden, she bore.

"What are you going to do, Will?" Hay Lin asked her leader.

"Prove to them they don't have to be afraid anymore, Hay Lin." the remorseful Will Vandom answered.

In the glade, the clearing in the Spirit World forest surrounded by dark, dense woods increasingly populated by the mighty Spirit Warrior army, two Guardians wondered how they would save the five Great Spirits with them, not to mention the rest of the Spirit World.

"What's the plan, Corny? How do we stop these guys?" asked Irma.

"I have a few ideas, but I confess I'm stumped why they were after me, why I'm so important." replied Cornelia the Plant Spirit.

"Stumped? I can't believe you're feeding me these lines!" said Irma, keeping it light.

"It is Cornelia's destiny to defeat the Spirit Warriors, just as her predecessor, Kameshe, did." Hei Bai the Black & White Spirit explained. "That is why they sought to bring you to their master, who believed he could take your power for himself. They fear you."

"They're afraid of me, huh?" remarked the crafty Cornelia Hale. "I can use that!"

"And it's about time somebody did something about the decor in this place!" Cornelia the living tree exclaimed as she bent down, placed a 'hand' composed of twigs upon the ground, and called forth her power

Immediately, in the clearing and in the adjoining forest, the dead-inside daffodils were replaced by cherry blossoms.

All over the Spirit World, in fact, the _Sakura _bloomed, bringing color and life to every corner of the damaged spiritual environment.

Even the desert.

And Wan Shi Tong's garden.

"Kameshe?" Wan said, daring to hope, upon seeing the rapid growth of his lost love's signature shrub.

The blossoms were so numerous, they literally rained down upon the whole forest, covering the ground with their delicate, beautiful, deep pink leaves.

"There! That little demonstration of my plant powers ought to make those warrior guys think twice about putting the hurt on anyone!" said the confident Corny.

"Yeah, uh, Cornelia?" said the much less confident Irma. "About that..."

Irma motioned to the assembled Spirit Warriors who, after an initial moment of confusion, spurred their ostrich mounts to charge the Guardians and Spirits!

Down the small slope into the clearing the warriors ran, their ostrichhorses crushing the cherry blossoms beneath their hooves!

Just then, Avatar Roku's dragon flew away!

"Hey! Where's he going?!" Irma bellowed.

"To get help, I hope!" Cornelia cried.

In the Spirit Court of Justice, Will tended to the needs of the various Spirits.

For the Chair? Arms, of course!

For Walk This Way And That, two sets of feet pointed in the _same _direction!

And for the Tree Dwarf?

"Let me guess. Height, right? But how high? House-size, or skyscraper-size?" wondered Will Vandom.

"I don't know what 'skyscraper' means", replied the Tree Dwarf, "but it sounds good! That size, please!"

As Will used the power of the Heart of Candracar on the Tree Dwarf, growing him to gargantuan proportions, Hay Lin interviewed the other Spirits.

"So you don't want to change?" she asked one, seeking to clarify the Spirit's intent.

"No. I'm fine as Xin Jing made me. I can fulfill my purpose just as I am!" replied the proud Spirit.

"Your purpose??" said the puzzled Guardian of Air. "So that's all you are? You don't want to be more than that?"

"Why would I?" said the Spirit, amused at the question.

Before Hay Lin could further ponder the ramifications of what she just heard, Roku's blue dragon flew in.

"I must take my leave." Avatar Roku announced. "My dragon informs me the Spirit Warrior Army has massed for a final attack on my Spirit brethren, and all that stands betwixt them and annihilation are your two companions, Irma and Cornelia."

"Our friends are in trouble?!" Will angrily spat. "And you only just now tell us?!"

"Don't let him get to you, Will!" Hay Lin piped up, in an attempt to calm her leader. "He's always doing that!"

In the now war-torn forest clearing, the brave Cornelia stood alone against the Spirit Warriors!

Her quick-growing vines grabbed many warriors from their ostrichhorses, leaving then to flail helplessly high in the Spirit World atmosphere!

Her earth 'waves', earthquakes and earth movements knocked over many more!

Her earthen and botanical barriers blocked the rest of the army from attacking the Spirits and Guardians!

Yet, it still wasn't enough!

Spirit Warriors continued to hack their way through her plants and climb over her walls!

Some even managed to assault Cornelia with their swords!

But Corny stood her ground and used her telekinesis to divert their tempered steel blades away from her!

It was quite the sight! The Tree Spirit, rooted to the spot, unmoving, with dozens of soldiers attempting to run her through! But no matter how hard they tried, none of the warriors could land a single blow! Wherever their sword was, she wasn't!

At one point, she deflected at least ten blades, one after another, along with the warriors that held the swords! From a distance, it looked like nothing more than a choreographed dance of death, with ten warriors revolving around the untouchable Plant Spirit!

Then, having averted the fatal strike, Cornelia pushed the warriors back with her mind, steamrollering them with an earthen mound or letting greedy vines grab them and toss them in the air!

Though Cornelia's battle skills were a wonder to behold, Irma knew she couldn't do it all by herself.

"Hey!" Irma called out to the four nearby Great Spirits - Kaki Tori, Wa-Mu, Yue and Hei Bai. "A little help, here!"

"We cannot aid you." Hei Bai began, "For it is written…"

"Yeah, yeah, save it!" Irma snapped. "Should have known this wouldn't be easy!"

Then Irma realized something.

"Hey! If Corny regained her powers, then maybe...!" she hoped.

And she did!

"Yes! I've got my powers back, too!!" Irma exulted, as she sprayed water from her hands.

Then, an overreach.

"Maybe I really am a Water Spirit, huh?" Irma said, looking to the Spirits for validation.

They sadly shook their heads.

"Geez! Harsh, much?" said the constantly put upon Guardian of Water.

"Whatever!" she yelled, as she rushed into battle to aid her friend.

With Irma's water whips to beat the warriors back, and her waves to wash them away, the two Guardians soon had the Spirit Army on the run!

"Ha!" Irma laughed. "That'll show those bozos not to mess with the Guardians of the Infinite Whatever!"

"You have performed admirably today, Irma and Cornelia." said noble Hei Bai.

"Why do I feel a 'but' in there?" Irma lamented.

"But the Spirit Warriors will not give up. It is not in their nature. They will keep coming, until..."

"Wait! Maybe it is over!" Cornelia happily shouted, seeing the white flag of surrender being carried towards them by a battered warrior.

But it was only a flag of truce, to negotiate.

"We have no quarrel with you, Plant Spirit." declared the representative of the Spirit Army to Cornelia the Tree Spirit. "If you will step aside, our Master will let you live. If not... Every moment, more and more of our brother warriors arrive. Soon, we will overrun you!"

"I don't think so." said Cornelia, rejecting the offer. "If that was true, you wouldn't bother negotiating!"

"Have a care, outworlder Spirit! My Master's patience has limit!" said the Spirit Warrior, putting up a brave front.

"You know what I think? I think your Master is afraid of me!" said the cunning Cornelia. "Not only that, you're afraid of me, too! And why wouldn't you be, since I can make your very body betray you!!"

Cornelia then germinated the seed from a fruit that the warrior ate, sprouting vines that pushed up his esophagus and out his mouth!

Shocked and stunned beyond belief, the warrior representative with a mouthful of vine ran off!

"Awesomely cool trick, Corny!" applauded Irma.

"But that's all it is!" cried Cornelia. "And it'll buy us some time, but he's right! We can't hold them off forever!"

"There is only one way to end the threat of the Spirit Warriors for all time." solemn Hei Bai intoned.

"Wait a minute! You don't mean..." Irma said, picking up on the forest spirit's bad vibe.

In the air, Will and Hay Lin flew like ones possessed to reach Irma and Cornelia before it was too late!

"Too bad we can't just dematerialize and get there like Avatar Roku, huh, Will?" said the hardflying Hay Lin.

"It's too bad I can't tele-transport us there, Hay Lin!" replied the disappointed Guardian leader. "But I've never been there before, and this terrain is hard enough to navigate as is! It's weird, like it constantly shifts around! But you'd never notice it on the ground!"

"Well, it is the Spirit World!" reasoned Hay Hay. "Don't worry! We'll make it there in time!"

"Yes. Of course. No worries." said Will, who didn't believe a word she said.

In the clearing, while the Spirit Warriors made preparations for a final assault, the Guardians and the Great Spirits...talked.

"Is there a way to make peace with this 'Master'?" Cornelia asked Hei Bai.

"The evil one means to use the Spirit Warriors to force us to do his bidding in the physical world, Kameko." said Hei Bai, using the term of affection he had for Cornelia. "He means to subjugate that plane of existence, as well. As we will not bow to him, he seeks to eliminate us."

"So there's no other way...?" Cornelia implored him.

The solemn Hei Bai had no answer for her.

"I'm so very sorry, Cornelia." said the Yue the Moon Spirit, embracing the newly-grown Tree Spirit. "This isn't fair to you!"

"Thanks, Yue. But I'm a big girl! I can take it!" said the brave Cornelia. "How are you doing? Sokka talks so much about you!"

"He means a lot to me, too." Yue mused on her short, but wonderful time with the Water Tribesman. "At least he's safe."

"Hey, come on, we'll get through this!" said Cornelia, with some amount of false courage. "You'll see him again! Or however you Spirits get together with people!"

"This is an 'earth spirit'?" Irma asked, pointing to Wa-Mu the worm.

"Most of him is still under the Earth Kingdom." said Kaki Tori, the phoenix spirit of fire.

"Most of him??" said the bewildered Irma Lair.

"Billions." answered Kaki Tori, matter-of-factly, which duly impressed Irma.

However, Irma wished the billions were _here_, where they could do some good!

"Cornelia..." said Irma to her long-time friend, out of earshot of the Spirits. "Can you do this? Are you prepared to do what they're asking you to do?" asked the concerned Water Guardian.

"Maybe I won't have to." said the distracted Earth Guardian, as she traced the petals of a cherry blossom on the ground with her twiggy 'fingers'.

"Corny, this is serious!" screamed Irma. "This isn't a game anymore!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Cornelia briefly raged. Then she regained her composure. "But maybe something will come up. Have a little faith!"

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"_Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith_." - Reinhold Niebuhr

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"Faith. Right! Is that why Yue was saying goodbye to you?" Irma cracked, with nary a smile on her face.

Avatar Roku then materialized out of the small pool of water under the banyan tree, followed by his dragon.

"Great! Another useless spirit!" groaned Irma.

There was a strong gust of wind, and Roku announced "I bring good news! Uindo the Air Spirit has agreed to join our cause!"

"See, Irma? Things are looking up!" said the beaming Cornelia.

"Wait a minute!" Irma interjected. "Where was this Uindo guy before all this??" she asked the former Avatar.

"He was briefly allied with our adversary." Roku admitted.

"So this air spirit...goes where the wind blows?? And that's supposed to make us feel better?" said buzzkill Irma.

"Irma..." Cornelia began. She wanted to criticize Irma for bringing them all down, but then she saw a lone Warrior on ostrichhorse marching towards them.

And he wasn't flying a flag of truce!

"Kangxi!!" Cornelia yelled, full of joy, when she saw who it was.

But the dour warrior didn't return her greeting.

He very quietly dismounted his ostrich and advanced on the Earth Guardian, sword at his side.

"Uh oh!" said the uber-worried Irma.

"Hay Lin...We're not going to make it!" Will confessed, as the two Guardians screamed through the air.

"No!! That can't be!" Hay Lin cried.

"There may be a way..." Will began. "...I could..use my power to stop them."

"Huh? But, Will, you told the Mayor in the Spirit Court..." argued Hay Lin.

"No. I can't take all of them out individually. There's too many, and it would take way too long!" Will added.

"Then how?" wondered Hay Lin.

"Remember the quarry in Avatar Town?" said Will, spurring Hay Lin's memory.

"So you'll do what? Blow them up? That's crazy!!" said the air sprite. "And what about our friends, and the Spirits they're trying to protect?"

"Hay Lin..." said Will, with a heavy heart. "Since I have the Heart of Candracar back, I can attune the blast so it only affects the Spirit Warriors!"

"Like a neutron bomb?" replied Hay Lin, recalling what she learned in history class about the bomb that destroys people but leaves buildings intact. "Even if that were true...no, it's still crazy!" said the firm Hay Lin, who gave Will a break after all she's been through. "That can't be why you came back, Will!"

"I don't know what else to do, Hay Hay." the Energy Guardian admitted. "Even if I were to make like Xin Jing and use the Heart to create a new Spirit to take care of the Spirit soldiers, I'm still too far away! Why else would the Oracle have told me about this destructive power I have, if not to use it? I can't fail our friends! If we don't act, the Spirit Warriors will..."

"Do you even know what you're saying?" Hay Lin retorted. "Wait. The Spirit _Warriors_?? Of course!" she grasped, a plan forming in her Air Guardian mind.

"Not so fast, pal!" said the determined Irma, standing between Kangxi and his prey, Cornelia.

"No, Irma!" said the Earth Guardian/Plant Spirit, moving her friend out of Kangxi's path. "He came to see me, and he will!"

"But, Cornelia, he's going to...!" Irma warned.

"I don't believe that, Irma!" Cornelia declared. "Kangxi couldn't!"

"You should listen to your friend, Plant Spirit!" Kangxi said, drawing his blade. "You're lucky! You have a choice! So what will it be? Life...or death?"

"When you put it that way...It's no choice at all!" uttered the blonde Tree Spirit with green leaves in her hair.

She then knelt on the ground before Kangxi.

"Go ahead!" Corny dared. "Do your worst!" she said, baring her neck to his sharp sword.

Kangxi was confused. He was expecting a battle.

"Why do you not fight, Plant Spirit?" he asked. "Our very natures are opposed to each other!"

Cornelia didn't answer him.

Irma couldn't quite believe her eyes! What was Corny doing??

Then, before anyone could move another inch, a voice rang out!

Hay Lin's voice!

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"_Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love_." - Reinhold Niebuhr

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"You think you're just 'Spirit Warriors', and that's it, but you're not!" Hay Lin broadcast to the assembled throng, using her power over wind to carry her speech to the clearing. "You're not beings of death and destruction! You're so much more than that! I know you think you don't have a choice, because that's how your 'creator' made you, but it's not true! I know, because that's what I thought about myself! I thought I had to be a Guardian because my grandmother was one! But I realized I control my destiny, and if I continue to be a Guardian, it will be because I chose to do so! Not because of my family or what anyone else thinks! You can choose, too!"

The Spirit Warriors surrounding the forest glade hesitated.

They had been waiting for Kangxi to give the signal to attack, after he had dealt with the Plant Spirit.

Kangxi, too, paused, and eased up on his sword.

Cornelia looked up, smiling, victory in sight. _Thank you, Hay Lin! _she thought.

Then Kangxi's mood darkened.

"Pretty words. But they matter not." he said. "I still must perform my duty."

Once again, he raised his sword, this time to apply the killing blow to the new-found Spirit of Growing Things!

And the Spirit who was once merely a girl, Cornelia Hale, kneeling under the great banyan tree next to a pool of water, again bowed her head, awaiting the fatal stroke.

Then she did something very unexpected.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want..." Cornelia began.

"Huh??" said the stunned Irma Lair. "She's praying??"

Not only was Cornelia praying, but she was crying, too!

And it finally hit Irma, like a ton of bricks, what was about to happen!

"Cornelia! No!" she shrieked.

Irma tried to speed to Cornelia's side, to halt the lethal slice, but she was stopped!

Held back!

By Avatar Roku!

"No! Let me go!!" Irma screamed. "He's going to kill her!!"

"Hold. You did your part, my child. You delivered your friend to her destiny. Now watch and learn." said the wise Avatar.

It was as if everything happened in slow motion.

Cornelia, on her knees before the Spirit Warrior, Kangxi, as he swung his blade ever closer to her neck, surrounded by a field of pink cherry blossoms and newly-sprouted, green plants.

"...He maketh me to lie down in green pastures..."

Next to the pool of water.

"...He leadeth me beside the still waters..."

The flowers on her recently formed tree-like body glistening in the Spirit Sun of the Spirit World.

"...He restoreth my soul..."

The other Spirits - Kaki Tori, Wa-Mu, Yue, Roku and Hei Bai, looking on. 

"...He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake..."

And the blade came ever closer.

"...Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."

Her Guardian friends, Will and Hay Lin, missing no more, and journeying to be reunited with her.

"...For thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me..."

The legion of Spirit Warriors surrounding the clearing ready to ride in and crush the helpless Spirits once Cornelia was eliminated.

"...Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies..."

The tears freely flowing on her face, matched only by the water works of her best friend, Irma.

"...Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over..."

And still the blade neared the nape of her unprotected neck!

"...Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."

With only prayer, and the thought of Will, Taranee, Hay Lin and yes, Irma, to sustain her.

"...And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

**CHING!!**

Went the sword!

In the ground next to Cornelia!

"No!!" shouted Kangxi. "I reject my purpose! I choose life!"

The assembled Spirit Warriors gasped and shuddered!

To deny the reason for their existence?? To freely go down another path?!

They all looked at each other, and then...threw down their swords!

"Can you ever forgive me, Plant, I mean, Lady Cornelia?" said the noble Kangxi, extending his hand to Corny to pull her up.

"I'll think about it." said the coy Cornelia, accepting Kangxi's polite offer and rising up.

Then the Earth Guardian was blindsided by her friend!

"Corny!! You're alive!! Alive!!" Yipeee!" screamed Irma, in glee.

"Oof!! But not much longer if you keep on squeezing that tight!" joked Cornelia. "I told you I could pick 'em!"

"You mean Kangxi?" replied Irma. "You can't let it go, can you, Corny? You just HAVE to be right!"

"Oh, now **I** can't be right? I already said you were right, like, how many times already??" the delighted deciduous spirit shot back.

"I am SO telling Caleb about Kangxi, then!" Irma teased.

"You better not!" challenged the good-natured Cornelia.

"Thank you, Kameko. You have done us a great service today." said Hei Bai the forest animal spirit.

"So you guys are going to be alright, now?" Cornelia inquired.

"We will be fine. And the Spirit World will benefit even more than we hoped for." Hei Bai replied. Then he motioned to the _former_ Spirit Warrior. "Kangxi?"

"I have spoken to the other Spirit Warriors." said Kangxi. "Most want to become farmers and gardeners, and restore the land to how it was when Kameshe was alive. It is their way of atoning for their part in her death."

"And what about you? What will you do with this new lease on life?" Cornelia asked.

We Spirit Warriors caused other damage here, particularly to the City, so I will lead a team to rebuild it. But I never did like that 'Forbidden City' it was based on. We will create an Inviting City instead!" Kangxi answered, as the two walked through the forest, which was full of new life and hope. Even the yellow sky had a patch of blue in it!

"Sounds good!" cheered Cornelia.

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

"_No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, forgiveness_." - Reinhold Niebuhr

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

Meanwhile, in his garden, which was overflowing with cherry blossoms, china roses, white lotuses and many, many other newly-burgeoning plants (but no daffodils), the normally reserved Wan Shi Tong was overcome by emotion.

"Oh, Kameshe, I'm so sorry! It was all my fault! Can, can you ever forgive me?" he cried.

Then, a voice emanated from the rustling leaves of the regenerated forest in the former desert.

_Give them a chance, love._

_That is all I ask of you._

_Please, give them a chance._

"Kameshe? A, a haiku?? It is you!!" Wan bawled. "Oh, Xin Jing! I've been so blessed, but I don't deserve it!" Wan sobbed, the tears flowing from his huge owl orbs, his foxes by his side lending their support. Finally, he wiped his tears away. "Of course, my love. (Sniff!) I will give them that chance...For you."

Soon, on the edge of the forest near the shrine to the Spirits, Irma and Cornelia were reunited with the Energy and Air Guardians!

"Will! Hay Lin! It's so good to see you!" hugged Cornelia the Tree Spirit, she of the tree trunk-like torso, branches for arms & legs, twigs for fingers, bark for skin and leaves for hair, all accessorized with flowers.

"Uh, yeah! You, too!" Will replied, as she batted Corny's head leaves away from her face.

"Wow, Cornelia! I mean. Wow. Look at you! I'm speechless!" Hay Lin commented, in an honest and sensitive manner.

"Don't I look great?" gushed the plant-like Cornelia, fishing for a compliment while she struck a pose.

"Irma, what's going on?" Will whispered. "What happened to Cornelia?"

"Corny's the real, live Plant Spirit, Will!" Irma flatly answered.

"What?? I thought that was just a scam to get free stuff!" replied Will, the thought making her head spin!

"Join the club!" said the sarcastic Water Guardian.

"At least you two didn't run into any major trouble. That's a relief!" said Will Vandom. "We were really worried!"

Well, there was one moment, during our fight with the Spirit Warriors, when Corny almost lost her head!" said Irma, making light of their plight.

"Irma, don't tell them that!" said Cornelia, who wished to cover up the nasty details. "We were in no real danger, Will!"

"What are you talking about?!" said the riled Irma Lair. "He almost…"

Cornelia Hale shook her head. "No, Irma. That knight wasn't going to hurt me!" said the confident Cornelia. Then she added "Wouldajustgrewback, anyway."

"What was that?" asked Irma.

"Nothing." said the 'innocent' Corny.

Confused by this exchange, Will sought clarity. "So, uh, you guys defeated the Spirit Warriors all by yourself??" she asked.

"It was the most excellent fight ever, Will! You should have seen it!" raved Irma. "Corny was all over the Spirit soldiers with the vines and the earthquakes, and at one point she took on like a dozen assassins, but she just stood there! They couldn't lay a finger on her, like in one of those kung phooey films! Then I made with the waves and the water - whooshhh! They never had a chance!"

"So that's how you beat a whole army? Cool!" Hay Lin applauded.

"Nah!" Irma replied, with a sour face, disappointed that they couldn't win even with their truly incredible fighting skills. "Then Cornelia convinced 'em all to give up!" she added, brightening.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Hay Lin!" said the grateful Earth Guardian, bearhugging (treehugging?) her Air Guardian friend.

"I thought trees were supposed to give oxygen, not take it away!" said Hay Lin, as she gasped for breath.

"You're amazing, Hay Hay! A teenage girl hasn't ended a war since..." began Cornelia.

"...The Wizard of Oz?" Irma offered.

"I was going to say Joan of Arc!" said the irritated Cornelia. "That didn't happen in the Wizard of Oz!"

"No, it was in one of the books! With Ozma?" said Irma, adding fuel to the debate.

"The books?" Corny scoffed. "The books don't matter! Only the movie does!"

"That's not what you said about _Wicked_!" Irma shot right back.

"That's different!" argued the Guardian of Earth.

"Why is that different?" replied the caustic Irma Lair, as the two continued to push each other's buttons.

"Because that's someone else's version! It's not part of the real Wizard of Oz!" Cornelia countered.

"Oh, so it matters if YOU say it does!" Irma bitched.

"I'm not the only one who says that!" replied the princessy tree spirit, unique among all the infinite dimensions.

"Well, it's nice to know some things haven't changed!" giggled Hay Lin to Will.

"You said it, Hay Lin!" laughed Will Vandom.

"Speaking of change, Guardian..." intoned the former Avatar.

"Oh. You again!" said Will, her joy instantly deflated upon seeing who had spoken to her.

Roku!

"There are some citizens of the Spirit World who wish to speak with you." Roku informed the Guardian leader.

Then Roku stepped aside, and three Spirits came into view.

The Chair (with arms).

Walk This Way (but not And That, not anymore).

And the Tree Giant (no longer Dwarf), who didn't really step into view. At least, not all of him!

"Whoa! Talk about tree-mendous!" Irma chuckled. "Or did I use that joke on Corny already?"

"Wait. Don't tell me! You three want to be changed back!" said the exasperated Energy Guardian.

_"Chair." Avatar Roku addressed Xin Jing's former furniture. "What did Xin Jing say to you when you asked her why she did not give you any arms?"_

_"She said..." Chair choked, recalling his creator's words. "She said, 'Why do you need arms? Arms could not hold me any greater than your love does now.' "_

_"And you, Walk This Way. What did Xin Jing give as her reason for making you the way she did?" Roku asked the four-footed creature._

_"She told me it was so I would always think about where I was going, and not make a wrong move." replied Walk This Way._

_"And did you ever travel in the wrong direction?" Roku inquired._

_"No." admitted the apologetic Walk This Way._

_"And you, Tree Giant. When you were known as the Tree Dwarf, were you not the most celebrated and accomplished tree in the forest, doing what other trees could not, including foiling the Wolf Bear, a creature hundreds of times your size?" the former Avatar contended._

_"This is true." the Tree Giant reluctantly agreed. _

After Will had restored the three Spirits to their former glory, Irma asked "What was that all about, Will?"

"Some Spirits didn't like how they looked, so I gave them a makeover. Which I just had to UN-makeover!" Will wearily replied.

"Think you could do the same for Corny?" Irma wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe." pondered the leader of the Guardians, Keeper of the Heart of Candracar, who knew that the Spirits were creatures of magic, while Cornelia was a physical being.

"Is there something wrong with the way I look?" stormed Cornelia the Tree Spirit.

"Of course not, Cornelia! You look fabulous!" Will responded, keeping a straight face.

"I wonder what Caleb is going to think, hmmm?" Irma razzed her longtime friend.

"Caleb doesn't care what I look like! Because our love is true!" Cornelia asserted. "But you wouldn't know anything about love, would you?" she said, throwing Irma's lack of a boyfriend in her face.

"Hey, Cornelia, low blow!" the Energy Guardian chastised her earthy friend.

"I can defend myself, Will!" Irma insisted.

"Okay, look..." Will began, instantly regretting getting in the middle of another one of Irma and Cornelia's tussles. "Sure, Caleb will be fine with your…new look, but what about the kids at school?"

"Yeah! Better watch out, Corny, or someone will carve their initials into you!" Irma jeered.

"Irma!" Will cried, hoping to avert a fight. "But she's got a point, Cornelia. Do you think you can dial it down a bit?"

"Okay, Will." Cornelia complied. "Let me see what I can do." She concentrated, and her treebark texture lessened, becoming more like the soft skin she used to have (although tan). Her fingers grew back, sprouting out of the twigs. She then lost the branches and general treeness, as her arms and legs returned, along with her human torso. Her flowers dropped off, and the leaves on her head receded.

"There!" Cornelia announced. "All better!"

"Not quite. Hold on!" said the helpful Irma, who brushed a few loose leaves out of her friend's golden hair. Then Irma noticed something else. "What'd you do to your lips?"

"Nothing. I guess tree sap is a natural lipstick!" said the proud Earth Guardian, showing off her sap-moistened lips.

"Corny, you're getting WAY too comfortable with the whole 'I'm a tree' thing! And I really don't think Caleb wants to kiss a tree!" Irma commented.

"Hmph! You're just jealous!" Cornelia replied, arms folded in annoyance.

"Kinda not!" Irma denied.

"Yeah, you are! Because now I can sprout instant shade wherever I am, or even make a private place for me and my sweetie!" Cornelia boasted.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Irma inquired.

"Uh huh." Cornelia smiled.

"Well, don't expect me to water you! Or to rake your leaves!" Irma joked.

"Okay!" said Will, hoping to stop where this discussion was going. "Didn't really need that imagery!"

"Will and I learned the story of the Spirit Warriors. Did you know they were created by Nerissa?" Hay Lin said, making conversation, while the panda spirit Hei Bai roamed the edge of the nearby forest.

"No way!!" Irma said, half serious and half joking.

"No, it's true!" Hay Lin insisted. "But what I don't get is, the Spirit Army guys were controlled years ago by that crazy Emperor Quo Jin. That was his Tomb we visited! But remember what the tour guide said?"

"He said...They never found his resting place!" recalled Cornelia. "When the archaeologists excavated it, the Emperor's tomb was missing!"

"Exactly!" Hay Lin squealed. "So he couldn't have been brought back with the Warriors!"

"Then...Who was controlling the Spirit Warriors this time around?" Irma wondered.

"Oh, what does it matter?" Cornelia interjected. "The Spirit Warriors gave up their violent ways! They're good guys now!"

"It matters because this 'Master' is still out there, Corny!" Irma pointed out.

"Which is why you should not tarry here, Guardians. The evil one will be furious over losing his Spirit Warriors, and now that he knows how vulnerable you are, he will surely seek revenge!" Avatar Roku warned the girls.

"Vulnerable?? What's he talking about, Will?" Irma asked.

"We kind of ran into some trouble of our own." Hay Lin piped up. "Will was..."

"Not now, Hay Lin!" Will interrupted the Air Guardian's story. "I'll tell you two later. Let's get out of here, first. We still have to go back to the Fire Nation to pick up Taranee."

"What??" Cornelia gasped. "You mean she didn't make it home, either?"

"No. Roku said she was 'needed' there!" said the miffed Guardian leader. "So, Roku, when we try to go home after getting Taranee, will there be any more interference from the Spirits?" she testily asked the former Avatar.

"I would not waste my time with idle chatter if I were you, Guardian." Roku replied.

"Huh! Yeah! Figures you wouldn't be helpful!" Will snorted. "Come on, guys! Let's go!" she exclaimed, as the Guardian of Quintessence took out the Heart of Candracar and activated a portal to the Fire Nation.

Suddenly, Shui She the massive water snake hurled out of a pond and wrapped his mighty coils around Hei Bai!

Enraged, the usually placid animal spirit lost his calm panda aspect and changed into his huge, monstrous form!

"Hei Bai!!" screamed Cornelia, the sight of her spirit friend in trouble shocking her into action!

"Cornelia! Don't! We have to go! Now!" ordered Will, as she grabbed the Earth Guardian girl.

"I can't believe you would turn your back on someone in need, Will!" the caring Cornelia fired back, as she ripped herself out of Will's grasp!

"No! You don't understand!" Will cried. "That Veil around the Avatar's world is affecting the portal! I can't hold it! And..."

Before Will could explain about the danger, and possible death, Cornelia faced at the hands of the dread Water Snake Spirit, the Guardian of Earth was off like a shot!

As the portal closed, one voice rang out: "Cornelia!!" it shouted.

And then only one Guardian remained in the Spirit World.

_Oh no!_

_Someone got left behind in the Spirit World!_

_But who?_

_You'll find out in the second part of our epic conclusion!_

_But first, coming up..._

_Next:_

_What happened to Taranee, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko?_

_Taranee will tell you herself, in,_

_The Journal of Taranee Cook!_

Notes

'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is a popular Nirvana song, but after reading the lyrics, I have no idea what it means. Cool title, though. Here, of course, it refers to the fact that both Will and Cornelia become teen spirits, although each in her own way.

Source of CPR instructions - depts./learncpr/quickcpr.html

Hei Bai calls Cornelia 'Kameko', or 'child of long life' (child of Kameshe).

Vomiting is the most frequently encountered complication of CPR.

Will's fate wasn't in the original story. You could say Will needed to die/be punished to expunge her sin, but what I really needed was a dramatic way to move from Point A (Will on trial and against the spirits) to Point B - Will free and helping the spirits.

Will certainly appears dead. But since her brain is still active, she's not officially dead.

According to Greek mythology, daffodils are spread over the plains of Hades, the land of the dead, which is what the Spirit World could be considered.

The cherry blossom (also known as Sakura) is Japan's unofficial national flower. In the United States, every autumn we identify the best spots for 'fall color' (leaves turning color). In Japan, every spring they track the cherry blossoms, which begin in Okinawa and then moves north. Ornamental cherry trees are native to Asia. In China, cherry blossoms symbolize feminine beauty. In Japan, they symbolize the transience of life because of their short blooming times. Falling blossoms represent warriors who bravely died in battle.

The meditating man (the Aborigine in the DreamTime, I think) that Aang met when he went to the Spirit World took off when the Spirit Warriors started their rampage. That's why he's absent from this story arc.

Wa-Mu the earth worm spirit caused the earthquake in Chapter 31 in attempt to prevent the spirits of the Terracotta Soldiers from escaping to the Spirit World, where they cause trouble.

Uindo the Air Spirit is little more than a messenger these days. He was the Tornado in Episode 2-4, The Swamp, and he ran The Master's errands (he was the breeze that mentioned the names Will, Elyon & Lillian in Chapter 34, and was the unseen spirit who talked to Wan Shi Tong in Chapter 35), but he's not really on anybody's 'side'. He helps/hinders both groups, depending on which way 'the wind is blowing'. He probably helped Hay Lin's voice carry all the way to the forest clearing.

Cornelia's fight against the Spirit Warriors reminds me of how Neo took on all those Agent Smiths in _Matrix 3_, and other films where the hero fights off an army. Except in those cases, the hero was constantly moving/jumping/dodging, but here Corny is rooted to one spot, and she still manages to defeat the horde arrayed against her!

Cornelia is at the height of her power, yet doesn't fly because I believe, like Toph, having an earth elemental who can separate herself from the earth is strange.

Only the Plant Spirit (Spirit of Living Things) could have stopped Quo Jin's Spirit Army, because only she had the power of life and death. (As Xin Jing was long gone, she's the only one who could have done it).

Hei Bai assumed some of her duties, but not all. He's the Spirit of the Forest Animals, and watches over the forest, but he doesn't make it grow.

Because of Kameshe the Plant Spirit's death, the earth benders lost the ability to bend plants.

Earth benders still retain some connection to the Earth, so they're not totally lost.

The evil Spirits wanted to separate Cornelia and get her alone. But Irma stuck close to her, and kept on 'interfering', doing something so Cornelia's fate didn't follow their plan. Irma's weight combined with Cornelia's caused the ledge to give way, causing them to meet Wan Shi Tong (and learn his story), then later Irma forced Cornelia to escape Kangxi, leading to Corny's final fate.

Irma, like many great heroes (Mad Max) or historical figures (John The Baptist, Moses), prepares the way, but can't enter the promised land herself.

At the moment of her death, Cornelia recites the 23rd Psalm (23? Jim Carrey was right! Ha!)

I didn't plan to get all religious. But what better place to get spiritual than the Spirit World? And imagine you're about to be killed. Wouldn't you be praying, too?

Kangxi was resurrected from the Tomb of Earth Kings that Emperor Quo Jin built his own Tomb over. Kangxi was once a king.

When Kameshe disappeared, the Spirit World suffered. Soil became toxic and red, plants stopped growing normally and the air became discolored. Corny's transformation (and the reform of the Spirit Warriors) fixes all of that.

The Master promised Wan Shi Tong he can have Kameshe back if WST did what the Master wanted. Morality plays abound in this story. Wan's rejection of the Master, and his own selfish wishes, led to his eventual redemption.

This chapter explains why Wan Shi Tong allowed Aang's group in his library, even though he doesn't trust people. He made a promise.

So much drama! I really, really tried to lighten this up as much as I could. Any more and it'd be farce, and not believable. I was happy to get all the comic interplay in there, near the end. It made for a well-rounded tale.

When Cornelia the plant says "Don't I look great?", for some reason it reminds me of Divine from _Female Trouble_. Thinking of her posing like a model, and she's a tree, it's just funny.

Cornelia doesn't mean to be blaspemous with her comment, "Wouldajustgrewback", implying she can be resurrected like Jesus. It's a mark of her confidence. And who knows? Maybe she could regenerate after getting her head cut off. Although I wouldn't want to test that theory.

'Rake Cornelia's leaves'? (Not to mention 'watering'). This was getting way too close to a dirty joke, so I had to stop.

It was never my intention to make Cornelia a REAL plant spirit, but the opportunity for drama, teen angst, body image issues, peer pressure, etc., a bunch of stuff to juice up the stories, was too good to pass up!


	56. The Fire Guardian in the Fire Nation

**Author's Note: This is a solo adventure of Taranee, about her experiences with Aang and the others in the Fire Nation. It's kind of my version of a Season 3 of Avatar (only with the addition of a fire guardian, not a fire bender). The story is told entirely through excerpts of Taranee's journal, and begins right after Chapter 33.**

**(Note that time passes differently in the spirit world and the physical world.)**

Chapter 38: The Fire Guardian in the Fire Nation

(The Journal of Taranee Cook)

June 2 - Wow! It's been an unbelievable two days since the others disappeared! Everyone was so surprised when Will, Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin got sucked into that vortex, no one noticed Phobos' magic had worn off and Azula had transformed back into her 'pleasant' self! Being a hogmonkey did nothing to alter the Princess' sunny disposition. In fact, I'm sure it made it worse! She was all over the place, attacking from every direction! And when Ozai got free, it was game over! Or, it would have been, but the other guy, the brother of the Fire Lord (I think his name is Iroh) took on what must have been half the Fire Nation army! He told us to get out, and take Zuko with us. I guess he was worried Ozai was going to use Zuko, who had combined with the Dragon and become fire itself, because in that form he was susceptible to Ozai's control. It would have been seriously bad news if Ozai got him! So we all fled, and I grabbed Zuko and flew away (since I was the only one who could touch him). We all felt bad about leaving Iroh behind (especially Toph), but what else could we do? We discussed a rescue mission, but with the number of troops guarding the Fire Lord's new Palace, it would have been suicide! It was only today we reached what we consider to be a safe place. I was lucky to find the parchment I'm using to write this! I plan to write every day until you four get back, so I can tell you what you missed. I know you'll be back. I'm sure of it!

June 4 - Ozai's not giving up! I think he has half the country searching for us! We don't plan on leaving the Fire Nation any time soon because Aang needs to find a master to teach him fire bending so he can defeat the Fire Lord. Therefore we've had to make a few...changes in our appearance. But nothing too severe (although Aang with facial hair is pretty funny!). We still need a cover, though. I've had a few ideas on that I'm going to bounce off of the others.

June 5 - Presenting: The Tang Family Circus! Don't laugh. I'm serious! I convinced the others that as a traveling circus we can go anywhere and operate in the open. During the day we can search for a fire bending master and (my idea) any resistance to the Fire Lord. I told Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph that it's not enough to just defeat the Fire Lord. You have to plan for the peace, too! We're not going to make that mistake! Oh, also, Toph asked again about saving Iroh. We checked and he's not in the Palace anymore. No one knows where he's being held (or even if he's still alive, but we didn't tell Toph that).

June 7 - We've been working on our acts, but, more than that, we've been helping people! You guys would be proud! And folks are really surprised to see a fire bender (a flying fire bender at that!) work with an air bender, a water bender and an earth bender! I think it tells them anything is possible. It gives them hope, something they really need! As for Zuko, he hasn't come out of it yet. But I know he will.

June 9 - We had our first performance! Aang was a trapeze artist and tightrope walker (he uses air bending to do both, but no one knows that). Katara does ice sculptures (I got the idea from Irma). The people of the Fire Nation love anything to do with ice, since they hardly ever see any! Katara makes the ice offstage, then 'sculpts' it onstage using subtle water bending (she only makes it look like she's sculpting it with an ice pick). And Sokka switched from throwing boomerangs to throwing knives. But Katara's not too happy with it, since she's the victim, I mean, participant! What's she worried about? Aang makes sure all the knives hit their target! Not that I'd ever do it! And what am I doing? I'm Madame Mask, the unknown, exotic fire bender from a far off land! I use a lot of makeup and disguises. I attach 'limbs' to my wings to make it appear as if I have several moving arms, like the Hindu goddess Kali, then I levitate a few inches above the ground and make designs in the air with fire! I even dance around a bit (See? I told you guys my dance training would come in handy one day!) For my big finish, I create a giant fire snake that appears to eat me! (But he really hides me from the audience so I can drop down through a trapdoor). It's all very spooky and theatrical! Toph's not interested in performing, so she works backstage.

June 11 - An exciting day! We jumped in when a volcano erupted in the Fire Lakes region, and saved an entire town! Toph's abilities really are incredible! She diverted the whole lava flow! I was there just to tamp down the heat, so Toph could work her magic, but the townspeople were praising me for the rescue! I tried to explain, but then they started calling me 'Fire Angel'! I don't think Toph minds, because what's important is our work, not the adulation of the crowd. The main thing is, we're really starting to make an impression on the people! They're beginning to see there's more to life than what the Fire Lord told them. It must be driving the Fire Lord nuts! Unable to find a fire bending master as of yet, though. I think Ozai either has them all on his payroll, or in his dungeons. If that's what we gotta do, that's what we gotta do! Got a promising lead on a resistance movement, too.

June 12 - The resisters were no help. They didn't want to get involved with us. They were afraid we were going to bring the Fire Lord's wrath down upon them! What, like resistance is supposed to be easy? I got the feeling they're not real freedom fighters, that they're opportunists waiting for Ozai to go down so they can move in. But I bet Ozai has the same problem. All those generals fighting over the spoils of the Earth Kingdom? As soon as the EK is down, they'll all be looking to take his throne! On a happier note, even Appa and Momo have gotten into the act! Appa's the 'fearsome' albino mountain ape bear (we know him as the Yeti). The hardest part was hiding all his feet! We had to cover them (and his horns) in a ton of fur. The audience is real scared when he comes out, but when he rolls over and Aang, sorry, "Rubino" (that's his new name, to make him sound foreign and exotic) rubs his tummy, it charms the whole crowd! The kids especially can't get enough of him. As for Momo, well, we dyed his fur brown and taped his ears back so he looks like a mongoose rat. Momo has this musical act with Sokka where Sokka plays an instrument called a, let's see, a tsungi horn, and Momo dances along. But Momo always messes up and jumps on Sokka, making him mad! It's a hilarious act! At least, I think it's an act.

June 14 - Kind of uneventful. We're traveling around, looking for someone to teach Aang, but no dice. No crises, either, so I guess I should be happy. Crowds are growing for our shows, though. I think Aang has found his calling! He really enjoys it! He's added a 'fall' to every performance, which never fails to get the crowd gasping for breath! He's even working on some new material! With no master fire bender teacher on the horizon, I've tried to teach Aang what I know, but it's not the same, since I'm not a bender.

June 15 - Saw Katara 'talking' to Zuko. I guess she was trying to reach him. Now that I think about it, I've even seen Aang talking to him. Maybe I should...no, that's crazy. I can't do that. Shouldn't even consider it.

June 17 - Occasionally I enter town in disguise (a full robe that covers my whole body & wings, plus a hood, although sometimes I use a mask instead) to perform a few fire stunts to drum up business for our show. It was while I was doing that, making flying fire birds, that a strange man started asking all kinds of questions. I got the feeling he was a high-ranking Fire Nation official, but I'm not sure. He said I was an impressive fire bender and heard fascinating things about our show, like the fact we do our fire bending at night, then asked if it was true that I create rings of fire away from my body and float in the air? But he said it with a kind of fake interest, which worried me. So I, in my best Fire Nation peasant accent, said "Oh no, your Lordship, I and the rest of my family are but simple mummers. Most of what occurs in our presentation is pure stagecraft and trickery! It's not real. And I am but a humble fire bender, with the scars to prove it! That is why I hide my countenance, so as not to afrighten the children." He inquired as to whether I received my scars in an Agni Kai, but I told him it was fire bending accidents, and added "As I have suffered so grievously as a result of fire bending, I only wish to receive some small remuneration from practicing the fire arts. That is why I do what I do." I think he bought it, because he left and I didn't see him at the show that evening. At least, I don't think he was there.

June 18 - Got a scare today. The 'master fire bender' we visited turned out to be a phony, a way for the Fire Nation to lure us out of hiding! It didn't help them, though! They were no match for us! Although things did look dicey for a moment. A fire bender had snuck around behind Katara and was about to nail her with a fire blast, but I saw him! Apparently they forgot what I can do to fire benders! I turned off his fire bending lickety-split, before he could harm a hair on Katara's head! Aang was so grateful afterwards. Usually he doesn't say much to me. I think Roku's words still bother him. He told Aang not to help us Guardians, but I think that just applied to before, when we were facing Ozai and Phobos. I noticed Aang kind of avoids me during a fight, I guess so he doesn't 'accidentally' come to my aid by finishing off one of my opponents. Maybe he'll start to ease up on that and relax. But one thing bothers me about today. The fact that the ambush was so amateurish and we didn't face overwhelming odds, makes me think this wasn't the work of the Fire Lord, but someone else. Maybe that guy with the questions? I don't know, but whoever they are, they're closing in.

June 20 - We've been lying low, concentrating on our circus show and not much else. Aang and Katara have a new act (he based it on what I told him about circus acts back home). Aang picks someone out of the audience to help him (but the person he picks is always Katara) and Aang offers various objects to Katara to hold or do whatever, but then he always makes the things disappear using 'sleight of hand' (air bending, really), making Katara upset. Their banter is pretty funny. It's like they've been doing it for years! (They make such a cute couple! Even Toph sees it, and she's blind! But it's not my business to pry into their personal affairs). Then, at the end of the act, Aang promises he's going to give Katara something that won't disappear, and asks her to hold out her hand and close her eyes. Then he does a handstand on her outstretched hand! When she opens her eyes, she can't believe what's going on! Everyone's amazed at her strength, that she can hold someone up so effortlessly! Then they both bow for applause, and the crowd finds out she's part of the show. Aang does it through air bending, of course. The hardest part of the act is making sure the floor is well swept so no one notices the dust Aang kicks up. That was the good part of the day. I think the pressure is starting to get to us. It's been almost three weeks, and still no progress in our goals. After the show, Katara got a little snippy and asked why, since it was our jewel that did its thing on Zuko, and since I was the Fire Guardian, why couldn't I cure Zuko? I told her it didn't work that way, then snapped back and asked her why didn't she use that Spirit water to heal him? I shouldn't have said that. The Spirit Oasis water is for when someone is dying! It shouldn't be used for Zuko's condition. Like Irma said (Irma had an idea I agree with? Stop the presses! Kidding.), the water would evaporate before it could do any good. And Zuko could change back at any moment... Really. I'll apologize to her tomorrow.

June 21 (morning) - Big show today! The Summer Solstice! There are festivals and celebrations everywhere! So wouldn't you know it, we get word Iroh is being held in prison and is scheduled to be executed at sunset! I told Aang it has to be a trap, but it didn't matter. We all knew what we had to do. More later.

June 21 (evening) - It was...the most intense fight I've ever been in! Fire benders everywhere! Thank God I had someone (someone**s**) watching my back! We rescued Iroh (giving Aang the master fire bender teacher he needs) but the news wasn't all good. Toph broke her leg in the melee! But she's okay. With Katara's healing abilties, Toph will make a full recovery, but it'll take time. Meanwhile, though, it's going to slow us down. A bit strange that Azula wasn't on the opposing team. I guess I should be happy about that, but it makes me worry she's planning something even worse! I wanted to cancel the show, as we were all exhausted, but the others thought that would look too suspicious. They said no one cancels a celebration on the Solstice! I had to agree with their logic, so the circus went on as scheduled. Then, in the audience, I saw that man with all the questions. I hope he was there to enjoy the holiday show, and nothing more. I hope.

June 23 - Iroh's with Zuko constantly, and yet...nothing. At mealtime, when Zuko was mentioned, it felt like the others were all eyeing me! It was so uncomfortable! What do they expect me to do, become one with the Dragon and turn into Fire itself, taking it from Zuko? There's no guarantee that would even work! And even if it did, what happens to me? At least Iroh doesn't blame me. He's too noble for that. Thank heaven for small favors. I don't know if I could take it if he did!

June 24 - I guess you're wondering why didn't we leave the Fire Nation once we had Aang's fire bending teacher, what with all the heat (ha, a pun!) coming down on us? It's because we still have our mission. To find and help the resistance to the Fire Lord. Besides, it's way too difficult to fly in and out of the Fire Nation! (Aang would still have to come back to fight the Fire Lord, but the FN army is watching the skies and every port!) And even if we escaped the Fire Nation, where would we go? The FN is everywhere! Better to stay hidden right under their noses!

June 25 - Weird encounter today. Ty Lee (yes, THAT Ty Lee) was in the crowd this evening. Sokka spotted her. (I think he had his eye on her after an earlier encounter!) After the show, she came backstage. The others made me get rid of her, because my disguise is better than theirs and she'd be more likely to recognize them. Would you believe she wanted a job? (Does that mean Azula cut her loose? What is she up to these days??) I had to tell her we're a family circus and don't hire outsiders. Then, when she didn't get the hint, I flamed her a bit. Nothing serious. Just a scare. I hope she doesn't come back for revenge or anything. But she doesn't seem the type.

June 27 - Having Iroh with us is paying unexpected dividends! He's a part of some secret society that uses...I guess I shouldn't write that part down, because it's supposed to be a secret. But the good thing is they knew of an ancient group in the Fire Nation that opposes the Fire Lord and all he stands for! Also, Aang developed a new stunt, the Ball of Death! There are two large balls on each end of a rotating arm. They're hollow, and Aang and someone else, usually Sokka, run around inside of them to get the balls moving, then Aang jumps outside of his ball and lands on top of it! It's so scary! He leaps on and off of it while it's still moving and rotating around! The ball is covered in dried mud, so Aang uses earth bending to stay on, but it still frightens me! With a stunt like that, though, we'll probably get invited to the next festival the Fire Lord holds, for sure! So it's a pretty good plan. I think.

June 29 - We traveled by day to the area that still practices "the old ways", called He Sheng Di. Odd, but I saw signs and symbols there that reminded me of that place we visited near Placid Springs. Iroh said the symbol was a picture of a white lotus (whatever that means). Our happiness at our good fortune made us ease up a bit, though. I noticed (too late) that the arena floor wasn't swept properly, and Aang kicked up some dust while doing his act! I hope no one else noticed it!

June 30 - We've made some good contacts among the locals. They've agreed to help us as they believe in the Avatar and all four elements acting in harmony (and we're the perfect example of that, notwithstanding Toph's crutches!) Not only that, but they're going to send word to others in the Fire Nation who are allied with them! It's the best news we've heard in a while! I also met a little girl named Meihui, who's a child of one member of the group. She said she wished she could be special, like the Fire Angel. I told her she's special, too. That everyone is special in their own way. Then she said if everyone is special, no one is special. 9-year old logic, right? Cute kid. Reminds you guys of anyone? (Anyone not named Will, Irma, Cornelia or Hay Lin, that is!)

July 1 - The people here really are amazing! They study air bending, water bending and earth bending, as well as fire bending, even though they're all natives of the Fire Nation! (Although some had ancestors who emigrated from those other nations). Some can even do water and earth bending! But only at a basic level. They're not masters, like Katara and Toph. No air benders among them, however. (At least, not yet!) Even though Aang's people were called Air Nomads, they didn't move around a lot, and tended to stay and meditate in very few places, which is why it was so easy for Sozin to wipe them out. (Aang traveled around the world with Monk Gyatso because he was the chosen Avatar, although they didn't tell him that at the time). The past of this world is so sad, but they're planting seeds here that will definitely blossom in the future! Oh, and the food is better here, too! Most Fire Nation fare is way too spicy! (Fire flakes, anyone? I didn't think so!) They could really use your family's cooking, Hay Hay! The best thing I tasted here was a hogmonkey! Sounds gross, I know, but it was pretty good. Iroh said you have to season it just right, and...yeah, I had to fight my gag reflex, too!

July 2 - I was trying something new in my act, and used a fire dragon instead of a fire snake for my finale. But after the show, Katara said I was making fun of Zuko! I never even thought of that! I told her I was just trying to kick things up a notch, and she accepted my explanation. But nerves are starting to fray. There's increased Fire Nation activity in town. I don't know if they're looking for us, or any 'traitors', but either way, it isn't good!

July 3 - Everyone's on edge because of the upcoming 'Day of Black Sun'. It's an eclipse, and all fire benders lose their powers! People are worried the Earth Kingdom army will invade when their country is at its weakest. Aang said he'd check to see if an invasion is imminent. It means leaving us, weakening us, and potentially exposing us all, but people need him. What else can Aang do?

July 4 - The Day of Black Sun! Can you believe it? I should be enjoying the fireworks! Instead, our circus is cancelled. Everything's closed. Everyone's staying home. They're that afraid! And Aang's late getting back. But we're not worried...yet. Plus, the FN army is patrolling the streets!

July 5 - I really messed up! Big time! We were waiting for Aang to come back, and thought we saw him against the moon. And it did turn out to be him. But I was concerned he wouldn't see us, since it was so dark, so I lit a flare with my finger so he could find us. And he did. But so did everyone else! Including some Fire Nation soldiers! Our cover was blown, everything went to heck, we ran and...You know what really gets me? I'm supposed to be the 'smart one'!

July 6 - The Fire Nation army can't find us, so they're taking away anyone they think helped us! And the others don't say it, but I know they blame me! Even Iroh turns away from me when he sees me. I'm so sorry! What more can I say? I know he blames the Guardians for this whole mess with Zuko! If we hadn't come here...I saw Zuko today. And just like before, he's completely made of fire. No change. Maybe I should...

July 7 - The Fire Nation army is encircling the town! We're considering making a break for it. Reinforcements are pouring in, and they're bringing their heavy artillery! For us? Even for the Fire Nation, it smacks of overkill! We're worried that, if we leave, all the people here will be wiped out!

July 8 - It's been crazy! Some of the people trapped in town tried to break the blockade, but they all got captured! Even worse, Aang ran to them to stop their ill-fated escape, and got nabbed, too! But that's not the craziest thing! The leader of the Fire Nation detachment made her presence known. It's Azula! And she called me out! Can you believe this girl? She's still miffed I spanked her in the Avatar Town arena! She offered to let everyone (even Aang!) leave in peace if the 'Fire Angel' agrees to fight her in an Agni Kai! I'm inclined to accept her offer, but the others won't let me sacrifice myself. They think we can manage to save Aang and the others. If we only had a plan...

I know what you're thinking. Why not use Zuko? Although his mind is...absent, he still has basic motor functions, so we could order him to attack the Fire Nation. And he's made of fire, so he could probably beat all of them! But what if we're wrong? What if he's hurt or captured? We couldn't do that to him, or Iroh. Zuko's our responsibility, and we can't let anything happen to him.

July 9 - Azula won't accept 'No' for an answer! She started to burn down the town! We've made our decision. The only one we could make. I'll fight Azula and, under the terms of our Agni Kai, Aang will be let go and, along with Katara and the others, escort the refugees out of town, as Azula has guaranteed their safe passage. I don't think Azula is worried about the Avatar. She should be! I know her father is. (But maybe that's the point. Maybe she wants the Avatar to get away so he can defeat the Fire Lord, leaving the way clear for her to take his throne? She is so devious!). Azula wants a 'fair fight' so, if I don't turn off her fire bending ability, she won't use her lightning. That's what she says. Fire vs. fire, and the best one wins. But I can still fly. Yippee.

Azula must be insane! She's had workers building something on the site of our duel. I don't know what she's thinking! A bigger stage, so people can watch her 'big victory'? Then, on the way there, I found Meihui's doll. It's face was burned. Leg cut off. I...Once I got near the arena, I saw what Azula had built. Some kind of crane that could pick her up and put her down anywhere on the field of battle! (I think she took 'crane style' kung fu a bit too literally!) Not only that, but she also had bungee cords on pulleys all over the place and even a moving sidewalk that went up a wall! (Kind of like an escalator.) All to negate my flying advantage! ...What makes me think I can fight a fire bender like Azula, who's trained for years? I was given these powers by the Oracle, but maybe he made a mistake. I'm no one special. Maybe...Maybe I should combine with the Dragon, become Fire itself...That would solve all our problems, and make everyone happy...This could be my last entry for a while…

o

o

o

o

July 10 - Diary, you would not believe what happened!! The girls came back, but it wasn't ALL of the girls, and then...! But I'm getting ahead of myself. You guys want to know what happened when I faced off with Azula in our Agni Kai, right? Well, Azula had all these things especially designed to beat me! She wanted to be the one to defeat the 'Fire Angel' and be the top fire bender that badly! I kind of feel sorry for her. Not at the time, though. Right about then, I was at my lowest. Ready to call on the Dragon, and... but then, guess what happened? Aang & them came back! They flew in on his flying bison and, Azula couldn't do anything about it because she had promised them safe passage! Aang couldn't interfere in our competition, but he did the next best thing! He brought in a special cheering section...Meihui! She was okay! I knew then what I had to do. See, Azula thinks her powers make her special, because she's a fire bender 'prodigy' and whatnot. But that's not what makes you special! It's the connections we make, the friends we have, family, the love we share, that makes us special! And that's 13-year old logic talking! So I had something, no, someONE, to fight FOR. And Azula, with her crazy quest for power, will never understand that. Like I said, kind of sad.

Oh, right. You want to know who won our fight, me or Azula. Ahem...I kicked that girl's fire bending butt!!

And then...the most amazing things occurred! It was while...on second thought, I'll finish this later. My friends are calling! Bye!

_Next:_

_Who got left behind in the Spirit World?_

_And what happened to her?_

_Someone's about to have an epiphany, but is it too late,_

_as she faces the evil at the heart of the Spirit World_

_and inadvertently causes a great tragedy!_

_Plus:_

_The Guardians fight the whole effin' army!_

_Excuse me. Strike that._

_I meant the whole FN army!_

_Whew! That's better!_

_Okay, it's not better for the Guardians!_

Notes

The circus is called the Tang Family Circus. It's sort of a joke. Since pairings are so prevalent in fanfiction, Tang would be Toph/Aang (or, here, Taranee/Aang) but there's nothing like that in the story. It's just a funny name. It also emphasizes the family theme of Act III Water.

"Plan for the peace "? Gee, I wonder what that's a reference to! I like real world references as much as the next person, but with fantasy it can be a little difficult to work it into the story. And you don't want to overdo it.

Taranee takes dance classes in the comic, starting with issue 48.

Aang strikes me as a natural circus performer. He likes having fun and using his powers, so I'm sure he'd enjoy it. Of the others, maybe Sokka would also take to it. Toph has a performing 'background', as an Earth Rumble fighter, but she always spent as little time in the arena as she could. She was more concerned with perfecting her earth bending skills, and proving she's the best earth bender ever, which she can't do in a Fire Nation circus. And Katara would prefer a much quieter life. She can do the performing (and, in Chapters 28-29, the spokesperson) role, but only because she has to. Her heart's not in it.

Aang doesn't directly aid Taranee. He fights beside her, but doesn't interfere in her battles. She helps HIM, but that's okay. They hang together, but Aang doesn't disobey Avatar Roku's edict. This is important later on.

However, note that Aang's crew does watch Taranee's back in a fight with the Fire Nation, and then suffers an injury (Toph breaks her leg).

I saw the Ball of Death in Wisconsin Dells, at Tommy Bartlett's water & stunt show (although there it's called 'The Wheel of Destiny'), and it is pretty scary! I mean, they're way up there in the air jumping on this thing while the ball is moving, and it's a hard fall if they don't make it! The stuntman came close to falling a couple of times, as I recall. Unless that was part of the act. It was intense!

He Sheng Di literally means 'place of harmony'.

Meihui means 'beautiful wisdom'.


	57. Trapped in the Spirit World

**Author's Note: Originally, this chapter was going to be all Irma. Then I decided to give the others one last bite of the Avatarworld apple. Not that they'd thank me or anything. Heh.**

Chapter 39: Trapped in the Spirit World

_What was she doing here? _the Guardian mused, as she dipped her finger in the pool of water.

It had all seemed so simple. Her friend was in trouble.

"Oh no, you don't, Corny!!" she yelled as she grabbed the Earth Guardian and flung her through the collapsing portal. "If anyone's sacrificing herself today, it'll be me!"

"What?!? Irma! No!!!" screamed the frantic Cornelia Hale, as the gateway to another world shuddered and closed behind her.

And what was the result of Irma Lair's sacrifice?

"Now for the fun part!" Irma declared, as she turned her attention to the brazen attack by the water snake Spirit Shui She upon Hei Bai, the forest animal Spirit.

However, with his true target gone, Shui She uncoiled, freeing Hei Bai, and slinked away into the brackish ponds that littered the swamp floor.

"Huh?" said the surprised Irma. "Well, that was easier than I thought!" she cheered.

"I did not need your aid." Hei Bai dryly stated. "For it is written that no Spirit can harm another."

"Now you tell me!" complained Irma. "Oh. So that's why you guys couldn't fight your own battle?? Whatever! Can you at least get me out of here? My friends will be worried!"

Hei Bai the panda then led Irma to a shrine

"Here is a portal to the physical world." said Hei Bai. "Simply activate your Avatar State, and it will return you."

"Avatar State???" said the confused Water Guardian. "Oh! I know what you mean!" she brightened, with a sudden shock of insight. Then depression set in. "But that won't work! I need the Heart of Candracar to jumpstart my Avatar State!"

"Is there any other way out of here?" she begged Hei Bai.

"No." replied Hei Bai. "I am sorry, but I cannot be of any further assistance." he said, and began to walk away.

Irma ran in front of the furry Panda Spirit and grabbed him by the shoulders. "But you have to!" she pleaded. "I'm only here because of you, and..."

Then mighty Hei Bai's pleasant panda demeanor fell away, to be replaced by his huge, monstrous form!

"ROAR!!" he thundered at Irma, getting spirit monster spit all over her in the process.

"Okay. I deserved that!" said the contrite Irma Lair, as spirit goo dripped all over her.

"Man, this stinks!" she said, as she cleaned herself off in the pond next to the shrine.

I mes_sed up again! _thought Irma, mentally beating herself up. _Oh_ we_ll. My friends will come back and get me, and we'll all have a big laugh about it. Any minute now._

Meanwhile, in the physical world...

"I don't get it!!" cried the Guardian leader. "I can't open a fold to the Spirit World!"

"Try again, Will!" urged Cornelia the Earth Guardian.

"I have tried! Like 50 times!" Will Vandom bellowed. "It's as if someone...or something...was blocking me!"

"But, Will, if we can't get back..." Cornelia darkly suggested.

"Irma's trapped in the Spirit World!" wailed Hay Lin the Air Guardian.

Tired of waiting by the shrine, Irma set off to look for another exit.

"There's got to be someone here who can help me!" she grumbled.

Irms didn't go far before she stumbled upon two former Spirit Warriors clearing brush, among other tasks, in the forest.

"Hi, guys!" Irma greeted them. "Do you know how I could get back to the real world?"

"Ah, sorry." said one forest maintenance spirit, who was moving rocks around to construct a walkway for what we would call a Japanese garden.

"It's not our job." replied the other greenery assistant, who was carefully organizing the plants at the garden's entrance, while creating a curving, natural path that their water source would use to flow into the garden.

"Besides," added the first spirit, "we didn't get here under own power. It was the work of that glowing jewel!"

"The Heart sent you here, too? Oh. Right. Nerissa!" said Irma, recalling how Hay Lin told her Nerissa created the Spirit Warriors using the Heart of Candracar. "Sorry to bother you." said the dejected Guardian of Water.

In the Fire Nation, Will, Hay Lin and Cornelia put their heads together to think of a plan to get Irma back. And realized they needed Taranee! So they sent out a telepathic call to the absent Fire Guardian.

_Guys! _Taranee telepathically responded. _It's so great to hear from you! Your timing couldn't be better!_

_Why? _Will mind-asked. _Run into some trouble?_

_You could say that. _Taranee thought-replied, as the flying girl dodged a barrage of fireballs, then responded in kind.

Before her were a brigade of the Fire Nation army (soldiers on rhinoback, tanks, fire benders, archers, infantry with fireball launchers, the whole deal!), engaged in battle with Toph the earth bender, Katara the water bender and Aang the multi-bender!

Moving on, Irma soon ran into a meditating man.

"Ommmmm!" he intoned, as he sat in the lotus position, eyes closed.

"Hey, buddy!" Irma chirped. "You wouldn't happen to know a way out of this place, would you?"

"Go away." said the meditating monk, without opening an eyelid. "Ommmm!"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too!" spat Irma.

Just then, a blue light sailed into view.

"Why don't you follow that? It might lead you to what you seek." said the meditating man.

"Why not?" Irma shrugged. "I've heard worse ideas!"

Irma followed the light.

The Dreamtime denizen then cracked open one eye and remarked "Is she gone? Sheesh! They're letting _anyone_ in these days!"

"Taranee's in danger!" Will yelled. She took out the Heart of Candracar and began their battle cry "Guardians, u-!" but was interrupted by Cornelia.

"No need to use the Heart on me, Will!" said Cornelia, activating her plant spirit powers to grow a ten-story vine that carried her into the atmosphere. The vine then bent forward, carrying Corny to another gargantuan, leaning vine. She hopped on and it carried her back into the sky!

This giant vine-jumping continued until Cornelia was out of sight!

Will, dumbfounded at her companion's display of raw power (and speed), could only stare and utter "Well, snap!"

"Uh, Will? I still need the Heart! Heh." Hay Lin meekly requested, trying to make Will feel better.

In the Spirit World, the blue light led Irma to a still pool of water.

Then, in the center of the pond, an image of Avatar Roku manifested.

"Oh. It's you." said Irma, disappointingly. "I don't suppose you know how I could get back to my friends, do you?" asked Irma, grasping at straws and not expecting anything.

"Not any way that could aid you." Roku replied, confirming Irma's fears. Then he said something that sent the wheels spinning in Irma's head. "But your friends would not abandon you. They will return as soon as they can. They have another problem to take care of first."

"Huh? What are you talking about??" Irma wanted to know.

"At the moment, your fellow Guardians journey to the side of Taranee, to defend her and Aang from the wrath of the Fire Nation." the former Avatar stated.

"What? Taranee's in trouble?!" Irma gasped.

"Wait a minute!" Irma snapped, as she put two and two together. "How do you know all this??"

"We spirits can observe events on the physical plane." Roku answered her.

"You can see everything that goes on?" Irma asked, hopefully. If this was true, it could be the answer to her prayers!

"Not everything, no. But we spirits witness much, although some are more skilled at world-watching than others." Avatar Roku informed her.

"Then can you answer a question for me?" Irma implored the former Avatar. "There was a soldier I tried to heal, but something went wrong, and I need to know what happened to him."

"I do not know the answer to that question." said the solemn Roku. "But I sense you do. Why do you seek that which you already possess, child?"

"What are you talking about?? I don't know that!!" Irma raged. "Look, I think I killed a guy, but if you won't help me...!"

"Is that what you truly believe?" Roku asked her. "In the Fire Lord's palace you displayed compassion for your enemy, yet here you grant none to yourself?"

"I...I don't know." Irma responded, her emotions swirling inside her. "I just need...something. Please."

"There is one who sees most all that occurs." Roku revealed. "His name is Koh. He may be able to help you, but I warn you..."

"Yeah, yeah! Save it! Spirit powers, remember?" said the impulsive Irma Lair to the watery image of venerable Avatar Roku, as she demonstrated her formidable water powers, then stormed off to find the one Spirit who could ease her soul.

Koh, the Face-Stealer!

Meanwhile, on the plains of the Fire Nation not too far from the coast, Taranee, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph repulsed the conquering military hordes of that warlike, industrialized society.

For the moment, anyway.

Taranee the Fire Guardian did what she could she could to disable the Nation's greatest weapon, fire. She commanded the fireballs shot at her to change course and strike at the heart of the enemy! When fire bender troops advanced on them, Taranee used her great gift, control over fire, to temporarily take their abilities away! But even with all of her efforts, the GAang were in dire straits!

Aang was chased and surrounded by a fleet of tanks! While Aang used air bending and earth bending to overturn a number of them, they were so numerous even his quick feet couldn't escape their wrath for long.

Katara, armed with only the water she carried at her side, struck at the attacking army with water whips and snakes! The first slice of the her liquid whip removed the combatants' weapons! The second, pushed them back! Sokka, her brother, stood by her side, and soundly dealt with anyone his sister couldn't stop! Unable to conquer the Water Tribe duo in close quarters combat, the enemy forces retreated, and the Fire General ordered his Yu Yan archers to let loose their arrows! The sky filled with the deadly shafts, and Katara knew she could not stop all of them from reaching their target.

And Toph, greatest earth bender ever, but still hobbled from the broken leg she'd suffered not too long ago, did what she could to stop the Fire Nation army. Earth waves rocked the soldiers off their feet! Blocks of earth shot from the ground and knocked them out! Walls of stone and soil entrapped them! But there were so many troops! So very, very many. Eventually, she'd tire, and then...

As if in answer to a prayer, W.I.T.C.H. (most of them, anyway) soared into battle, coming to the rescue of their friends!

Will the Energy Guardian 'quintessenced' the metal tanks menacing Aang. The tanks came alive and trapped the enemy forces inside them!

"Hey! What's going on??" one of the soldiers screamed. "This thing doesn't work anymore!"

"And I can't get out!" another wailed.

Will similarly enchanted other engines of destruction, and directed them to halt the advance. The Fire Nation's own mechanical marvels created a wall of steel that the fierce warriors could not pass! Those soldiers able to escape their vehicles were left with nowhere to go except back the way they came!

With a wave of her hand, Cornelia the telekinetic earth spirit directed the Yu Yan archers' inerringly accurate arrows away from Katara and Sokka! The lethal shafts sailed back to the bowmen, nailing their robes to the turf!

As the archers struggled to free themselves, some yelled "Sorcery!" Others, after a few more unsuccessful volleys, saw the impossible odds they were up against (mere air bending could not have sent the arrows back with such flawless precision, after all) and chose to run away sans clothing!

And Hay Lin, fully-powered as the Air Guardian once more, whipped up a mighty tornado that plucked about half the Fire Nation warriors off the battlefield and deposited them a mile away!

An, an Air Nomad???" gasped one of the commanding officers upon seeing the flying girl. "It can't be!! We eradicated all of you!"

"Guess again!" said the offended Hay Lin, who decided for once not to be so gentle and sent a battering ram of air squarely at the Fire Nation officer's solar plexus, knocking him out!

"Hay, it's you!" said the happily surprised Aang.

"Hi, Aang! Good to see you, too!" she beamed.

Yet, even with all of their awesome Guardian powers, it still wasn't enough to stop the war-hungry Fire Nation!

The rhinoback soldiers, being heavy and low to the ground, resisted the hurricane force wind and were about to overrun the mighty Toph (who was a bit less mighty since she broke her leg)!

"Toph's in trouble!" the hovering Will cried out. "I have to save her!"

"No, Will!" said Cornelia, halting her friend. "Taranee can't stop all of the fire benders! They'll shoot you down if you fly over there! Leave it to me!"

"What do you have in mind, Cornelia?" Will Vandom asked. But the Earth Guardian was already gone.

With athletic grace, Cornelia 'dove' into the ground and disappeared!

Using the power of the earth, she traveled underground and re-emerged near Toph, bringing hundreds of quick-growing plants with her! The ensnarling vines carried both rhinos and soldiers high into the sky, saving her earth-bound friend!

Will could only blink her eyes and marvel at Cornelia's expert use of her power!

Cornelia Hale stood there in the center of the greenery explosion she caused, her power at their peak, and some of her plantiness came back. Leaves filled her golden tresses, and small branches grew from her arms, blooming with flowers.

"It's the Plant Spirit!" said one fearful Fire Nation infantryman.

"There's no such thing as a 'plant spirit'! That's colonial garbage!" said another army man. Then he got a good look at Corny - leaves, branches, flowers and all! "I…damn, I think you're right! Run!!"

With Taranee using her Guardian of Fire powers to shut down most of their fire benders, and facing more than the simple elemental forces and opponents they were used to, the Fire Nation retreated!

Having won the day (for the moment), our heroes finally had a chance to relax.

"Hi, Toph! Miss me?" the Earth Guardian asked the master earth bender.

"Like a cold!" Toph teased. "Yeah, okay. A little bit!"

Then Toph just HAD to say it!

"Hey, did you know you've got little things growing out of your arm?" the blind, but always direct, Toph blurted out, as she could sense the changes in Cornelia's body with her earth powers.

"Uh, yeah. I know." admitted Cornelia, with some hesitation. Even though she was totally fine with her new situation, Cornelia was worried others wouldn't accept her. "Does that bother you?"

"No. I like it. I think it suits you!" said the smiling Toph. "More than 'ice skating', anyway!"

"Thanks, Toph!" Cornelia replied, giving the Earth Kingdom girl a hug. "But no matter what you say, I'm not giving up skating!"

Before re-uniting with Taranee and the others, Cornelia mentally commanded her branches, leaves and flowers to recede, giving her a near-normal appearance once again, although her skin was still a shade darker, and the occasional leaf or flower would drop from her form.

"It's so good to see you again!" Taranee warmly greeted her Guardian companions. "Hmm. You seem different, Cornelia." the perceptive Taranee remarked to her friend.

"Long story. Tell you later!" Will hastily responded in an attempt to change the topic. "We had a heck of a time getting here! Thank God you all made it!"

"It was touch and go for a while there, but I'm not going to start complaining about the last minute rescue!" Taranee gently chided her friends' nick of time appearance. "I was starting to think you'd never get back!"

"Why would you think that, T? It hasn't been that long!" Will replied.

" 'Not that long'?? It's been **weeks**!" said the Fire Guardian.

"Huh? Really???" said the very surprised Will Vandom. "Oh geez! We had no idea! I'm so sorry, Taranee!" said the deeply apologetic Guardian leader.

"Forget about it! We were doing fine!" Taranee comforted Will. "At least, until this last day!"

"Why? What happened?...(Sniff)...What's that smell? It's like rotten eggs!" said Hay Lin, holding her nose.

"That's part of it!" Taranee informed her friends. "See, after the Fire Nation found us, they gave chase! But they couldn't catch us! Then one of the generals we captured began to gloat, and told us they knew we were heading for the coast, and were going to cut us off! They figured we'd go there because Toph's earth bending could make a crude boat that Aang and Katara could then sail across the sea using water bending."

"Why didn't you just fly away?" said the puzzled Cornelia. Then she looked around. "Hey, where is Appa?"

"Ferrying refugees to an island off the coast, along with Iroh and Zuko. Zuko never did come out of his 'one with the dragon of fire' state, so I wrapped him in flameproof material and put him on Appa with his Uncle Iroh." Taranee told her fellow Guardians. "The two of them and these people from a town opposed to the Fire Lord are waiting for us on the island. We were supposed to lead the pursuing Fire Nation forces away from Zuko, Iroh and the refugees, but with the Fire Army about to block our escape route, I had what I thought was a brilliant plan to stop them! But it turned out to be not so brilliant, after all." she sighed.

"What'd you do?" asked the curious Will.

"I thought if I caused one of the many volcanoes around here to erupt, Ihe lava would halt the troops' advance!" the brainy Fire Guardian revealed.

"You made a volcano explode? Cool!" cheered Hay Lin.

"Yeahhh. Not so much." shrugged Taranee. "It's more like I released lava from a vent. That way, it'd be easier to control than a Plinian eruption, with its pyroclastic flows, and..." Taranee noticed the mention of scientific terms made her audience's eyes glaze over, so she got right to the point. "Anyway, the cruel general in charge of the Fire Nation forces ordered his men right into the lava!"

"That's terrible, T!" commented the leader of the Guardians, disgusted at the lack of leadership displayed by the commander of the Fire Army.

"I guess the idiot thought his metal vehicles could take the heat! Except they couldn't, and began to melt! So we had to swoop in and save them! And that's when the army caught up with us!" Taranee explained.

"No good deed goes unpunished, eh?" Hay Lin observed.

"You could say that again!" moaned Taranee.

"Oh, so the lava is why you stink like rotten eggs!" Cornelia realized. (Actually, it was the sulfur compounds - sulfur dioxide gas and hydrogen sulfide or 'brimstone' - released by the volcano that caused the terrible odor).

"Cornelia!" Will chastised the Earth Guardian.

"What? She does!" replied the girl who usually spoke her mind.

"That's not the worst part of it!" Taranee added. "The general we questioned told us Princess Azula herself is leading the army chasing us!"

"Gee, carry a grudge, much?" Will cracked. "Is she still mad about that fight in Avatar Town?"

"And about being turned into a hogmonkey by our enemy, Phobos?" Hay Lin wondered.

"There's that. Plus, I did get Azula a _wee_ bit upset when I beat her in an Agni Kai!" Taranee announced.

"What's that? A board game?" said the confused Corny.

"Combat challenge." the Fire Guardian clarified.

"But I thought we just sent the army running??" questioned Will Vandom. "Azula wasn't among them!"

"No, that was only the forward forces. The main army is some distance behind them." Taranee explained.

"I've got a question." Katara jumped in, breaking up the Guardians reunion. "Where's Irma?"

"That's a problem." Will sheepishly admitted. "She got left behind in the Spirit World, and I couldn't fold back to get her!"

"What the?! The Spirit World???" Taranee cried. "I assumed she was back on our Earth and her dad was making her clean out the garage or something and that's why she wasn't with you three!"

"No, we never made it back. We've been stuck in the Spirit World all this time!" the Energy Guardian confessed.

"Yeah, being stuck in the Spirit World is pretty bad, especially if there's no way to relieve yourself! I should know!" Sokka grimly joked. "But I think we've got even bigger problems! Look who's coming!" he said, pointing to the horizon.

It was the main force of the Fire Nation army, with Princess Azula riding a train engine at its forefront!

To make matters even worse, the army she led consisted of two whole divisions. That is, it was six times the size of the force they defeated moments ago and _twice_ the size of the army that invaded the North Pole!

The assembled heroes gasped at the task before them!

From a passing minor spirit (a hand with tiny legs and a mouth, but no other facial features), Irma learned Koh lived in a cave on the edge of the swamp.

"But you don't want to meet him!" the little hand spirit cautioned her. "He's not very nice!"

"I can handle myself!" Irma insisted.

Approaching the cave, Irma noticed some kind of primate sitting nearby.

_If Koh allows monkeys to hang out near his pad, he can't be all bad! _ Irma thought to herself.

Then Irma entered the cave, and never saw the mandrill turn his head in her direction, revealing he had no face!

Koh's many legs skittered across the wall of his cave, then launched himself at his visitor, his oddly round, white head stopping mere inches from Irma's face!

"Hello!" Koh loudly declared, hoping to startle his guest.

"Oh. Hello." said the depressed Irma, her countenance devoid of emotion.

"You aren't afraid of me?" wondered the malevolent spirit, as he changed from his Noh mask appearance to that of an owl.

"Of a big centipede guy? Puh-lease! I've seen a lot worse!" Irma replied. "Besides, you kind of remind me of this funny-looking guy, Wu something or other."

"What do you want?" Koh grumbled, displeased both at his lack of success in acquiring Irma's face and her mention of Wu Guo. His face then changed to that of a bearded man.

"What makes you think I want anything?" Irma wondered.

"It's the only reason anyone comes here!" replied Koh, who now sported the beautiful visage of a woman with long, flowing hair.

"Huh. Interesting." Irma remarked upon seeing Koh with a woman's face. But she didn't change her blank expression. "I've been told you see a lot of what happens in the world. So maybe you could answer a question I have."

"Possibly." Koh retorted. He then sported a blue oni mask, and crawled on the wall of the cave. "But if I do, what's in it for me?"

The sight of the blue mask on the centipede-like creature finally got a rise out of Irma. "Heh. That's funny." Irma gently laughed, her lips forming a smile.

Hearing Irma express emotion, Koh lunged at her!

"I amuse you?" he asked Irma, getting in her face!

"Ah. Not so much." said the dour Irma Lair, the smile abandoning her face as she recalled why she was there.

"If you can give me the information I want, what would I have to give you?" the cautious Irma asked Koh, getting back on topic.

"Oh. Nothing much." Koh told her, speaking with the face of an old man. "I would like to meet your friends. I've heard so much about them!"

"The Guardians?" Irma uttered. _Why would he be interested in us? _Irma thought.

"I've seen so many of your Guardians' adventures in the physical world. I find you and your companions fascinating!" Koh disclosed.

As he spoke, on the walls of the cave, scenes from the past played out, like on an old TV with bad reception.

The Guardians fighting Zuko in Avatar Town, during their first battle with him.

Irma attacking Zuko alone at the conclusion of their second battle, with the Guardians and Aang's crew in the background.

Irma and Cornelia on their own in the Fire Nation.

And, finally, Irma and the others strung up on Phobos' Great Elemental Ring.

"Yet, for all your trials you've gone through, there is still much you have yet to confront. I've seen what troubles you, Irma Lair. I can ease your heart." said Koh, reverting to his white Noh face and looking in Irma's eyes. "I know about the soldier."

"You have? You can?" Irma voiced. Her emotions roiled within her, the mental tug-of-war canceling out any expression on her face. On the one hand, Koh's peeping tom confession majorly creeped Irma out! But, on the other hand, if he did know what upset her, and could help her...

Hope was winning the fight for Irma's soul, and with its triumph, happiness would return to Irma's features.

But then...

"Got to go! Thank you, Mr. Koh, sir!" said the polite Aang, his face as blank as a North Pole ice wall. He took Irma by the hand, shielded her face from Koh, and escorted her out of the dark cave.

Once out of Koh's creepy cave, the irritated Irma asked "Aang? What are you doing?? What's going on? Koh was going to help me! He..."

"He'd say anything to make you show emotion. That's how he steals faces! He's Koh the Face Stealer! That's what he does!" Aang told her.

"Seriously??" Irma was skeptical. "He actually seemed like this funny old Spirit I saw in a picture, and..."

"If you don't believe me, look at the monkey over there!" Aang pointed out. The monkey had no face.

"Yipes!" Irma yelled. "Why didn't Roku warn me? Oh, wait. He did try, but I shot him down!"

"You can thank Roku later. He did tell me where to find you!" Aang informed the Water Guardian.

In his cave, Koh raged at the passive image of Avatar Roku that manifested on the wall.

"You told Aang not to help them!" said the furious Koh, who wore the face of a young man.

"Aang is a very willful boy, and is often disobedient." Roku replied, matter-of-factly.

On the way back to the shrine, Irma and Aang talked.

"How'd you get here? And why didn't Will and the others come with?" Irma queried her rescuer.

"Will had a little problem making her Heart thingy open a portal to the Spirit World." Aang replied. "So it's a good thing the Avatar, that's me, is the bridge between the physical and spirit worlds!"

"Really? I'm going to have to take Avatar 101 when they offer that in school!" Irma cracked. "I'd definitely pay attention in that class!"

"Ha!" Aang laughed. "It was the least I could do, after you Guardians saved all of us from the Fire Nation!"

"Why? What happened?" Irma inquired.

"The Fire Army was about to crush us, but Will, Hay Lin and Cornelia sent then packing! And we wouldn't even have lasted that long if it hadn't been for Taranee!" Aang cheered. "Then an even bigger army marched on us, led by Princess Azula herself, but Will used the Heart to take all of us to a safe island!"

"Oh, you mean tele-transportation?" Irma suggested.

"Yeah. That's what she called it!" Aang confirmed. "Sokka was pretty impressed!"

_"You can do that with that Heart thingy?" Sokka asked the Guardian leader when they suddenly appeared on the island, traveling the miles from the battlefield in just moments. Will nodded her head yes. "Aang, I don't care what Roku says, we have got to get one of those! I've had enough airsickness to last me a lifetime!"_

"But didn't Roku tell you not to help us?" Irma wondered, remembering what Aang said to them when they were all captured and hung on the Ring.

"I'm pretty sure Avatar Roku meant in the physical world!" Aang reassured her. "Spirit World problems are my job as the Avatar!"

"You Guardians are amazing!" Aang raved, after witnessing the kind of power the five girls from another Earth possessed when at full strength. "Especially Hay Lin! She's awesome! I've heard stories about air bending masters, but I never thought I'd see one in action!"

"So, you like Hay Lin?" Irma gossiped.

"Well, sure! She's great!" Aang replied, clueless as any twelve year old boy. Aang led Irma to the Spirit World shrine next to the bamboo thicket and activated his Avatar State. "Now stay close. I haven't done this with another person before."

"Well, this should be exciting, then! I remember the first time Will tried to fold! Talk about queasy!" Irma joked. "Anyway, I meant _like_ like?" said the chatty teen, eager for the juicy news of the day.

"What? You mean _love_?? No. I don't love Hay Lin!" Avatar State Aang denied, as he opened the portal back to the physical world. Then he leaned in towards Irma's ear and said "I'll tell you a secret, but don't tell anyone, okay?"

"My lips are sealed!" Irma said, making a zipping motion with her hand.

"I really love..." began Aang in his Avatar State, keeping his earthly attachments while he and Irma faded back to the 'real world'.

"No!!! She was mine!!" Koh the centipede monkey screamed, as he struck Aang's spirit form in the back!

Struck **hard!!**

"...Katar-uhhh." Aang gasped.

Irma and Aang tumbled back to the physical world, and the next thing Irma knew, she was on a warm beach somewhere near the Fire Nation, with Aang's lifeless spirit lying in the sand next to his unmoving, physical body locked in the lotus position.

"Aang? Aang!!!" she cried out.

_Aang's dead???_

_Koh killed him?!?_

_Shades of Xin Jing!_

_OMG!!!_

_Roku warrrrnnned him!_

_Next:_

_The finale, wherein everyone gets what's coming to them!_

_(If they haven't already!)_

_It's bittersweet._

Notes

Hei Bai's ability to transport people between the physical and Spirit worlds is limited. He took the villagers to the Spirit World in Episode 1-7, The Winter Solstice, but he couldn't return Aang from the Spirit World to the physical world in Episode 1-20, Siege of the North, Part 2. Hei Bai showed Aang how he can return, using the shrine, and told Irma, too, but Irma can't use it.

Wan Shi Tong went back to his Spirit Library in the Earth Kingdom, so he's not available to give Irma a 'ride' to the physical world.

One of the questions that occurs to me is 'Who's more powerful, Cornelia or Toph?' Now, I may be a little biased here, because I like one character more than the other, but it's obvious to me who the winner is. Cornelia possesses more raw earth power than Toph does. Toph fans would argue I'm not being fair to Toph by having her injured while Cornelia comes to her rescue. I do think Toph displays more skill in the use of her power, so the question becomes, with both at the height of their abilities, who would come out on top? I think the answer is, truthfully, whoever wants it more. Beware what you wish for, though. I try to put the argument to rest in my sort of sequel to this story (actually, a 'What If?' based on events in W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar), but you may not like the results.

On a similar note, could Taranee really beat Princess Azula in a fire-vs.-fire duel as depicted in Chapter 38? Well, Taranee is pretty smart, and Azula does have a tendency to lose her composure and muss up her hair while fire bending, so it's _possible_.

Plinian eruptions are named for the Roman Pliny the Elder, who died during an eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. There are different types of volcanic eruptions, but when most people think of an erupting, exploding volcano, they're really thinking of a Plinian eruption. Two key characteristics are an exceptionally powerful, continuous gas blast eruption and the ejection of large volumes of pumice. The longer eruptions start with showers of ash followed by glowing avalanches. In some cases, so much magma is erupted that the summit of the volcano collapses to produce a caldera. Examples of Plinian eruptions are Krakatoa in 1883 and Mount St. Helens in 1980.

Pyroclastic flow - Hot, dry flows of rock fragments and gas produced by erupting volcanoes. That stuff will kill you in an instant!

Sokka was 'trapped in the Spirit World' in Episode 1-7, The Winter Solstice. When Sokka returned, he had to immediately go to the bathroom.

Koh the Face Stealer (from wikipedia)

Koh is an ancient, malevolent spirit  residing in the Spirit World . He lurks in a dark cave under the root structure of a giant tree. He is called "the face stealer" - if any creature in his presence shows even the slightest expression of emotion, he steals its face. His body is that of a giant centipede, while his head acts like an eye socket. When a pair of lids blink over his face, it will change to one of the many faces he has collected from his victims.

On the advice of Avatar Roku Aang  sought out Koh to learn the whereabouts of the spirits of the Moon and OceanKoh, resentful that one of Aang's previous incarnations had attempted to kill him for stealing the face of a loved one, repeatedly tries to provoke Aang into showing emotion. He sports increasingly frightening visages, all while coyly providing the knowledge Aang seeks. He explains the spirits' nature and importance in maintaining worldly balance, opines that they are in danger, and provides a crucial hint as to their location. Unfortunately for Koh, he barely misses seeing Aang's subsequent expression of epiphanyAs Aang departs, Koh promises that they will meet again.

Koh has millions of different faces. The ones that were shown include:

A female Noh  mask; a white face with red lips and grey eye markings, which is the face he uses most often and so _may_ be his true face.

A bearded and mustached man's face

Ummi, a Southern Water Tribe woman with long wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and pink lips. This is the face of Avatar Kuruk's wife, whose face was stolen by Koh as punishment for Kuruk's past arrogance.

A blue-nosed Mandrill's face (Probably the face of the monkey that was outside of Koh's Cave).

An owl's face. Light brown feathers and emerald green eyes.

An old man's face, white mustache and blue eyes.

A blue oni mask, similar to the Blue Spirit mask worn by Zuko.

A young man's face, brown hair and gray eyes.

Other Spirits fear Koh, because the prohibition against Spirit-on-Spirit violence doesn't affect his nature/purpose, which is to take faces. Notice the monkey isn't 'harmed'. That is, it's still alive and functioning (sort of).

Koh can see into other worlds, but Wan Shi Tong can travel to them. So Koh needed Wan's help.

I think Koh was lying about being able to help Irma. His original target was Cornelia. He only noticed Irma because she was always hanging around Corny. So he really doesn't know about the soldier. But he heard Irma mention him to the other Guardians.

Koh rarely leaves his cave, because that's his place of power.

Aang travels to the Spirit World by separating his physical body from his spirit, but he may be the only one who accesses it in that way. It's been shown that people's physical bodies can travel to the Spirit World. Iroh spent some time in the Spirit World and retained, in the physical world, the ability to see spirits such as Roku's dragon. And Hei Bai kidnapped people (including Sokka). Where else could Hei Bai hide them, but the Spirit World? The fact that they don't remember being there means denizens of the Spirit World have the ability to cloud mens' minds while they're there (or, for instance, make the Guardians think they're powerless). Plus, Prof. Zei went to the Spirit World when he stayed in Wan Shi Tong's library. Aang's spirit travels to the Spirit World, but his physical body controls his bending ability. Therefore, Aang can not bend in the Spirit World. However, if one's physical form went to the Spirit World, they would retain all of their abilities, including bending. But the Spirits don't like that, because it can play havoc with their world.

Cornelia's been targeted (by both sides) for a while. Both Hei Bai (and his allies) and Koh were eager to claim her aid/power. So Hei Bai tried to warn Corny when she was in the Dream World, and later gave her the 'heads-up' on the earthquake, plus he probably got the plants to pull her out of the fire fight in the Fire Nation when she was knocked unconscious. Koh (whose ability to look in on other worlds is more powerful than the other spirits, since he was the first spirit. This also makes him chief intelligence gatherer of the Spirit World, which is why Roku sent Aang to him for info on Tui & La) showed Cornelia events from her world to ease her mind, to make her more pliable and agreeable to his plans, then scared her by mentioning her sister and friends so she would readily accept Kangxi's aid. He wanted to separate Cornelia from the other girls so she'd be easy pickings. But he didn't count on Irma getting the Spirit Oasis water splashed on her, which caused her to be 'immune' to his machinations. That's why Irma arrived with Corny. Irma then became Koh's 'consolation prize', and he's sorely ticked that he's denied that, too!


	58. Fear Strikes Out

**Author's Note: The main storyline ends with this chapter, but there's more to come after the conclusion. Another three chapters, in fact.**

Chapter 40: Fear Strikes Out

(Will To Succeed)

_Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate._

_Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure._

_It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us._

- Marianne Williamson

_Understanding others, and the other elements, will help you become whole._

- Iroh, "Bitter Work"

"I don't understand! It's not working!" Will cried, as she shined the magical energy of the Heart of Candracar on Aang's unmoving spirit form and his spiritless, dying body.

The Guardians, plus Katara, Toph, Sokka, Iroh, Appa and Momo gathered around Aang's lifeless spirit, but only W.I.T.C.H. and Iroh could see him.

Aang's body, meanwhile, still sat in the lotus position he had used to separate his spirit from his body so it could ascend to the Spirit World. But without the life-giving energy of his spirit, Aang's flesh would soon pass away!

Katara frantically applied her special Spirit Oasis water to where she thought Aang's spirit lay, but as the water was physical and the young Avatar's spirit wasn't, the drops fell ineffectually onto the shifting sands of the beach.

Nearby, Appa the sky bison, who shared a special link with Aang as his spirit animal, let out a sad, low-pitched mewl. Momo the winged lemur sat on his furry friend, perhaps trying to comfort him.

Prince Zuko, still entirely composed of fire and lost in his fantasyworld where he was loved by all, but especially his parents, bore mute witness to the unfolding tragedy.

Was Aang destined to travel the same path as the progenitor of the Avatars, Xin Jing?

"Roku warned you not to help them, but did you listen? Nooooo!" Sokka yelped.

"Shut up, Snoozles!" said the caustic Toph to the Water Tribe boy.

Will Vandom felt terrible! She knew Sokka didn't mean it, that it was the hurt talking. But Will also knew that if they had never journeyed to the Avatar's world, none of this would have happened, and Aang would not be dying before her eyes!

Except it didn't make any sense! The Guardian leader knew the power of the Heart of Candracar was the same power Xin Jing had used to create the elemental powers and the Spirit World. The same elemental powers the Spirits had in turn employed to give birth to the Avatar!

"The Heart can't do everything, Will!" Taranee the Fire Guardian consoled her friend.

"No! There's got to be some way! Something I'm missing!" Will shouted, not ready to give up.

"His, his spirit is dead, and I can't even see it!" Katara sobbed. "At least if I could, I could grieve, and..."

"Hey, Katara, come on. He's not dead yet! There's still hope!" Sokka wrapped his arms around his sister, seeking to share his strength with her.

"No, Sokka. It's not like before, at the North Pole, when we saw Aang's spirit return. Then we knew he'd be okay. Now he's gone! He's really gone." the Water Tribe girl said, tears flowing.

"What did you just say?" Will asked, unsure of what she just heard pass Katara's lips.

"What?" Katara replied, wiping her tears away.

"About the North Pole. You said you saw Aang's spirit! But how could that be possible?" Will quizzed the young master water bender. "You're not an Avatar, or been to the Spirit World like us or Iroh! So how could you see his spirit?"

"I don't know! Aang's spirit was going back to his body, and we saw it shoot through the sky! That's pretty much it!" Katara responded. "Why? Is that important?"

"I've been such a fool!" Will declared. "I've been so caught up in these new powers of the Heart, of how it can create and destroy like Xin Jing's power did, that I lost sight of what it's really all about! Taranee, remember what we learned about energy in science class?"

"What do you mean, Will?" asked Taranee. They had studied a lot of things in class, after all.

"How energy is neither created nor destroyed?" the Energy Guardian hinted.

"It's transformed! Of course! I see where you're going with this!" the Guardian of Fire realized.

Will held the Heart of Candracar in front of Aang's spirit and intoned the words of transformation. "Quintessence!" she exclaimed.

"Would somebody mind filling me in?" Sokka asked. "We didn't exactly have 'science class' where I grew up!"

"Ditto!" Irma added.

"Huh? You had science class, Irma!" Hay Lin corrected her classmate.

"Yeah, but did I understand it?" perennial C student Irma joked.

"Okay, basically, Will figured out Aang's spirit was in a transitional state back in the North Pole! That's how it combined with his body! It wasn't pure spirit, and that's how Katara and Sokka could see it!" Taranee educated the others.

"Oh, so if Will can change Aang's spirit into this transitional state, it'll join his body and he'll be okay!" Cornelia said, putting it all together.

"Exactly, C!" Taranee concurred.

They watched, and waited, and lo and behold Aang's spirit changed into a ray of light!

A light that shined, then shot into the meditating body of Aang!

"Unhhhh. What..." Aang gasped, weak after his ordeal.

Then all of Aang's friends fell on him, delirious with glee that he was back among them!

They hugged him, cheered, wept tears of joy, so happy were they!

Aang took it all in. He knew how truly lucky he was.

Not just being alive. But to have friends like these!

Then the Avatar noticed someone held back from the celebration...

...Irma!

The Water Guardian blamed herself for the whole mess! If only she hadn't been so stupid! What would she celebrate, anyway? Will (this time, anyway! Next time it'll be someone else!) cleaning up one of her mistakes? So, Irma sulked alone.

Then Aang placed his hand on Irma's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Irma." the sensitive Avatar told her.

"Yeah, sure! Keep on saying that and I might believe it one day!" Irma bitched, her strong words doing little to mask a weakened heart.

"What you did, you did for a friend. Someone you loved! There's no shame in that!" Aang added.

Then everyone gathered around the emotionally frail Guardian of Water. They could sense she was thisclose to breaking down.

"Irma, it'd be worse if you didn't care!" Katara advised her. "Don't ever stop caring for people!"

"But what happens the next time I screw up?" Irma sobbed.

"Hey, that's what we're here for! You don't have to go through this alone, Irma!" Cornelia said, hoping her bond with her Guardian sister would give Irma the strength to endure. "Look at me! I would have never got through this whole 'plant' thing if it wasn't for you by my side!"

"Plant thing??" Taranee, confused, said to Will.

"Yeah! Cornelia's a plant!" the Energy Guardian confirmed, in a world weary tone of voice that communicated the feeling, 'What next?'

"She's a plant?? Seriously?" Sokka stated, not quite believing it.

"Yep! I felt the buds form on her arms and everything! Isn't it cool?" Toph beamed.

"Hmmm. Does this mean if I pick her fruit out of season I'd get in trouble?" Sokka said, with a devilish grin on his face.

"Sokka!!" Katara berated him. Then she slapped him.

"Ow!" Sokka yowled in pain. "What?? What'd I say?"

"I don't know! But it sounded bad!" his sister informed him.

"Ha!" Irma laughed. A true laugh, one not born in an attempt to hide pain. "You guys are great! Well, that's enough of this place! It's about time we were getting home! Right, Will?" the Water Guardian eagerly asked the chief of their little band.

"Not quite." the leader in Will stated. "There's still one piece of business we have to take care of - Koh!"

"What??" said the dumbfounded Irma. _That guy was bad news! _ Irma thought. _Why go looking for trouble?_

"We can't let him get away with what he did!" Will argued. "Besides, if my suspicions are correct, he's guilty of a lot more than what he did to Aang!"

"What do you mean, Will?" asked Air Guardian Hay Lin, who felt a special kinship to the last air bender.

"Remember the stories about Xin Jing? How she made a spirit who could change his face?" Will Vandom offered.

"Oh, yeah! Wasn't he called Wu something?" Hay Lin recalled.

"Wu Guo. Which sounds like Koh!" Will corrected her friend. "Wu went missing after Xin Jing passed away. But there's more! Who was the Big Bad behind the whole crisis in the Spirit World? I say it was him! Think about it! A mean, old spirit who hated others and wanted to take over? The other spirits doing his dirty work because they were afraid he'd steal their face?"

"Even if that were true, Will, how could we get to the Spirit World? He must be the one who blocked your access to it!" Taranee contended.

"Which means he could probably prevent our trip home! Even more reason to take him out!" Will said, making the case for action against the malevolent spirit. "Anyway, he might be able to block us, but he can't block Aang!"

"I get it! Because Aang's the bridge to the Spirit World!" said Irma, snapping her fingers.

"Aang, I'm not so sure about this!" Katara pleaded.

"I'll be fine, Katara! We'll travel to the Spirit World in our physical bodies! That way, I'll be able to bend when I get there. I won't be defenseless like last time!" Aang assured her.

"But…"

Katara still worried. She had almost lost Aang to the dread Koh once already, after all.

"Katara, I'm coming back!" Aang insisted. "I have to! Because I couldn't..." Aang choked on the words. No matter what, he couldn't spit them out!

_'Because I couldn't bear to leave you'? _Aang thought. _I can't say that!_

"Katara, I..." said the Avatar, looking deep into the Southern Water Tribe girl's eyes.

"Yes, Aang?" Katara calmly asked. "What is it?"

Then Aang, not knowing what else to do, leaned into her face and planted one on her!

Katara was shocked, but not disturbed, by the Avatar's brazen action, and soon returned the sentiment.

The two master benders, inseparable since they first met in the South Pole, locked lips!

It was their first kiss!

Sokka, staring at the unexpected sight, almost choked on his smoked meat!

"It's about time!" Toph said, raising a cheer!

"See, Irma!" Cornelia pointed out. "You did good, after all!"

"Hey, yeah. Maybe I did!" Irma happily agreed.

"We'll have to be careful, though!" Will cautioned her team, after the group got back to business following the public display of affection. "The Spirits can't harm each other, but after my little…incident, they know they can hurt our physical bodies while we're in the Spirit World!"

"What's Will talking about, Hay Hay?" Cornelia inquired.

"After that big snake hit Will, I had to revive her using CPR!" Hay Lin revealed in a breathy rush.

"Now you tell us?!" Irma complained.

"I didn't want to worry you!" Will confessed.

"Yeah, a little late for that!" Irma deadpanned.

"Okay, Guardians unite!" Will exclaimed. Then she glanced at Cornelia. "Everyone!"

Cornelia didn't have to be told twice. There's no 'I' in 'team', after all!

For the sake of unity, Cornelia joined her compatriots and Guardianed up, too.

Thus ready for whatever awaited them in that fanciful other world of Spirits, the Guardians stood by as Aang meditated to activate his Avatar State.

"This Koh guy is a major freakshow! All centipede-like and he steals your face if you show any emotion!" Irma warned her friends. Then she noticed her fellow Guardian seemed unconcerned. "Taranee, you can't stand _teeny tiny_ bugs! Aren't you worried Koh will freak you out?" the Water Guardian wondered.

"I'm not worried! I faced my fears!" Taranee calmly replied.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Irma.

"Remember after we got out of that 'Dream World', I said I was afraid of not being special?" Taranee jogged Irma's memory. "Well, as Fire Guardian, I was pretty unspecial in a nation of fire benders, but I got over that. Thanks to Princess Azula!"

"Azula??" said the puzzled Irma Lair.

"It's in my journal. I'll let you see it later!" Taranee added. "I think we're ready to go. Look at Aang!"

Aang, in his Avatar State, had opened the way to the Spirit World while Will, with the Heart of Candracar, kept the portal open so they all could transit to the realm of the Spirits.

Aang (who relinquished his Avatar State upon arrival) and the Guardians encountered no opposition as they made their way to Koh's cave. Which was understandable. Most Spirits didn't care for interacting with humans. And Koh's allies had no desire to confront such an assemblage of power, whether they were vulnerable or not.

Koh, on the other hand...

"Well, well, well! What have we here?" Koh said, spying his uninvited guests. "Irma! You did bring them! And me without a gift for you!"

Koh skittered across the wall of his dark, dank cave to look at each Guardian, but they maintained stoic, impassive features, no matter which one of his many faces he used.

Then Will spoke.

"You have a lot to answer for, Koh!" the stern Guardian leader declared, commanding energy to shoot out of the Heart and trap Koh the centipede monkey against the cave wall. "Or should I say, Wu Guo?"

"That puny spirit is dead!!" Koh crowed. He struggled against the energy bonds, to no avail. The ticked off spirit didn't even try to change faces anymore, which made him even madder!

"Why? Because you killed him?" Will interrogated the malevolent spirit.

"He deserved to die, after what he did to Xin Jing!" the vengeful Koh revealed.

"What? What did Wu Guo do to the creator of the Spirit World, Koh?" Will inquired.

But the face-changing spirit would not say another word. He only hissed and snarled at the Guardians and Aang.

"Not that it matters. We've heard enough!" the Quintessence Guardian announced. "Koh, you'll be Face Stealer no more!"

Will held the Heart of Candracar in front of her, ready to work its transformative magic on the nastiest being of the Spirit World. But Koh was defiant.

"Go ahead! But know this...Face stealing is in my nature! You may succeed in denying me my abilities now, but you'll leave, and your magic will fade! Then the Spirit World, everything, will be mine!" said the crafty, ancient spirit, taunting them.

"Besides..." he continued. "I know a secret you don't! There is still one thing you have yet to face!"

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" said the curious Will Vandom.

"Me!!" Koh shouted!

The slippery spirit's pliable, many-footed body wriggled free of Will's energy bonds and leapt at the startled Cornelia!

Koh was about to claim his prize!

But a fountainous spray of water stopped him short of his goal!

"Oh no you don't, funny face!" Irma slapped him down.

Will then ordered the Candracan energy to surround Koh, to contain him in a bubble.

"You were right, Irma! He is dangerous!!" Cornelia gasped, still shook up. She had faced her own end, and lived to tell the tale.

"The question is, how can we stop him?" Taranee wondered. She turned to the Avatar. "Aang? Any ideas?"

But the physical world's representative to the Spirit World, and Keeper of the Balance, had none.

"Don't look at me!" he shrugged. "I barely understand my Avatar duties!"

"Have you made a decision, young Guardians?" a new arrival asked, forming out of a puddle on the cave floor left over from the waterspout Irma shot at the villainous Koh.

"Avatar Roku!" Aang warmly greeted his past life and Avatar guide.

"Hello, Aang. It's good to see you. But I'm not here for you." he told his young charge.

"Huh. Why am I not surprised?" said an annoyed Will, who suspected the former Avatar had not been straight with them in the past, and was working his own, as yet unknown, agenda. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions on how to stop Koh's face-stealing and general menace to society status?"

"Yeah, Roku!" the glib Irma interjected. "You can put him in Spirit Prison, right?"

"Sadly, no. There is no spirit prison or jailer who can hold Koh, as none have a defense against the Face Stealer. I'm afraid I only know of one way to end the unique threat the spirit known as Koh poses to both the spiritual and physical worlds." Roku solemnly informed the assembled Guardians and Aang.

"You know I can't do that!" Will denied the Avatar spirit's implied (and fatal) solution. "But we do need some sort of permanent fix." Will concluded. Then an idea began to take shape in the red-headed teen's mind. "I wonder...what the face-stealer's original face was?"

Will shined the light of the Heart of Candracar on Koh, the light of truth that had the power to strip away falsity and pretense, and Koh's Noh mask fell away!

In its stead was the sweet, kind, cherubic visage of the lost spirit, Wu Guo!

"That's him!" Irma loudly announced. "That's Wu Guo! I saw him in a painting at that Owl guy's place!"

"Don't call me that disgusting name!" railed Koh, who was once the happy Spirit of Play, and treasured favorite of Xin Jing, creator of the Spirit World.

"I thought as much." Will deduced.

"What? That Koh stole Wu Guo's face?" the Air Guardian theorized.

"No, Hay Lin. Koh was Wu Guo." the Energy Guardian explained. "But when he caused Xin Jing's death, maybe by accident, some 'play' of his that got out of hand, or maybe he secretly hated her and wanted her power for himself? However it happened, Wu couldn't deal with what he'd done, cracked like a toothpick and created this Koh character!"

"Dissociative identity disorder." textbook-studying Taranee added.

"Huh?" Hay Lin reflexively uttered.

"It used to be called multiple personality disorder." the Fire Guardian clarified. "It's caused by abuse…or trauma." she said, looking directly at Koh.

"No!! I'm not him!" Koh protested, denying the proof, plain for everyone to see, on his face. "Wu Guo was weak! And a fool! Not like me!"

"Oh, give it up! You are so totally busted!" Irma laughed.

"Koh, you've hurt so many!" Will declared. "But you know what the crazy thing is? When I was near death, I had a vision. And even after all you did, all the people and spirits you harmed, including causing her death, Xin Jing still forgives you!"

"No! You lie! What I did was unforgivable!!" Koh/Wu Guo screamed.

The maddened spirit then broke free of his Heart-formed prison and lunged at the Guardian of Quintessence!

Will stood her ground, and exclaimed "But I'm not Xin Jing! And I'll make sure you never hurt anyone again!!"

And with that forceful exclamation, the Keeper of the Heart of Candracar ordered the mystic jewel to radiate its light one last time on the charging chaos spirit!

And Koh, a mere split second away from his steadfast teen target, vanished!

"Will! You didn't..?" Hay Lin gulped, assuming the worst.

"No, Hay Lin." Will calmly reassured her good-natured friend. "Koh was a big problem, so I...reduced the threat!"

"You mean...?" the Air Guardian sought more info.

"He's no bigger than a microbe! Not exactly 'liquidated', but let's see him try to steal anyone's face or take over the Spirit World now." the satisfied Will Vandom reported rather matter-of-factly. What should have been a moment of triumph was reduced to 'another day at the office'. The strain of their long sojourn in the Avatar's world and the Spirit World was clearly beginning to show.

"That was weird, how he was able to break free of your force field thingie like he did!" Cornelia observed.

"He was Xin Jing's first spirit creation, so he probably had a bit more kick to him, compared to the other spirits." the weary Will offered as her theory for Koh's escape. "It doesn't matter. He's gone now, and none of that 'it's in my nature' stuff is going to help him return!"

"That was pretty brave!" the Guardian of Air complimented her leader. "What if your plan didn't work? Weren't you scared, Will?"

"No, Hay Lin. Big bugs don't scare me." Will replied. "Meddling spirits, on the other hand…" she added, glancing in Avatar Roku's direction.

"An excellent stratagem, Guardian of the Heart. The Spirit World, nay, the entire world, is in your debt due to your actions on this day." said the spirit of Avatar Roku, bowing before the girl who not only inherited, but _earned,_ the legacy of her world's Xin Jing.

"Yeah? Then I don't suppose you'd tell us what's really going on?" Will pointedly asked him.

"I've told you everything you need to know, Guardian. That should suffice." Roku bluntly stated.

"Yeah? Kinda doesn't!" replied the miffed Guardian leader. "Come on, guys, let's get out of here!"

As they exited Koh's cave, Aang, puzzled by the exchange, ran up to Will. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"Never mind." said Will, anxious to put the Avatar World and its Spirits behind her. "I just want to go home."

During the time Will folded them back to the island near the Fire Nation where Katara and the others awaited their return, and even after the Quintessence Guardian tele-transported all of them to the safety of the Earth Kingdom, near the sparsely populated Si Wong desert, Irma kept unusually quiet as she thought about everything they had gone through.

And who brought Irma out of her reverie?

Cornelia!

"Hey, little guy." Cornelia said to the wilting plant, struggling to survive in this most inhospitable environment. "Need a little help there?" the Earth Guardian added, as she bent down to give the vegetation her special 'green touch'.

"Corny, quit sprouting around!" Irma said, continuing their long-running feud.

"I'm not playing with the plants, Irma! I'm helping! Big difference!" Cornelia shot back.

Behind her, the rejuvenated plant grew tall and blossomed, its flowers reaching for the sun's life-giving rays.

"We're in a desert! I'm sure a lot of plants need help! But we have to go!" Irma argued, as they trekked through the desert with their friends to a nearby oasis.

"Then maybe you should do something about that, since you're the Guardian of Water, instead of..." Cornelia testily replied, seeking to get in the last word.

"Will you two quit it?" an exasperated Will Vandom ordered. "I'm going to contact the Oracle!" she announced.

Will held the Heart of Candracar and concentrated. Then a glow spilled out of the Heart and in its center an image of the Oracle appeared!

"Oracle!" the girls excitedly shouted.

"Hello, Guardians. It is good to see you." the Peace at the Center of Infinity stated. Though his voice was an even-keeled monotone, one could still sense the joy he felt beholding his young charges after their prolonged absence.

"He does look like an Air Nomad!" Aang remarked upon seeing the bald, robed Oracle.

"Hello, Aang. It is an honor to meet you. I knew your people, and grieve for your loss." the empathic Oracle said.

"You knew the Air Nomads?" Aang asked him. The Avatar had never heard of such a thing. Which was saying a lot, since Aang had lived many lives as the Avatar!

"Correct. Once in a great while, our worlds intersect. But when they again fall out of alignment, everyone on your world forgets. That is why your past lives retain no memory of meeting me, and why there is no chronicle of our world on yours." the Oracle explained. "However, the last time our worlds were aligned, it was through the Spirit World. That is why the one called Iroh was able to remember it."

"So Iroh was in the Spirit World??" Sokka quizzed Toph.

"Yeah, I heard about that." Toph answered. "They said that's how Iroh was able to see Aang's spirit, while you or Katara couldn't."

"Oh. Right. We were kind of like you for a bit there, Toph!" Sokka unfeelingly commented, referring to Toph's blindness. Then he realized how jerky he sounded. "Uh, not that being like you was a bad thing!"

Toph merely smiled.

"And once in the Spirit World, a portal to Meridian opened up." the Oracle continued. "But that is not important. I must inform you that the time of crossing nears its end. The Veil is lowering once again, and when it is done, return will not be viable."

"What are you saying, Oracle?" Will said, seeking clarification with the most direct question she could think of.

"You only have a short time left on the Avatar's world. If you do not journey to your world before that time expires, you will be unable to return for an undetermined length of time." the Oracle answered.

"So we'd be stuck here?? For how long?" Cornelia inquired.

"I cannot say with any certainty. It could be a few short months. It could be many, many long years." the Oracle replied.

"What? But we wanted to go home for a bit, then come back here to help Aang fight the Fire Lord!" Irma growled.

"I am sorry, but that is not possible." the Oracle lamented.

"Well, that just stinks!" Irma angrily pouted.

"There is one benefit to withdrawing from the Avatar's world." the Oracle told them. "Once you Guardians depart, their world will 'reset'. It will be as if you had never been there. It is a mechanism put in place after the last Guardian to visit the world of the Avatar."

"Nerissa!" Will hissed.

"Yes." the Oracle replied, with a heavy heart.

"So if the Guardians leave, we'll forget they were ever here? Even...Hay Lin?" Aang morosely asked, looking at the Guardian of Air who had given him such hope after losing his entire people.

"Yes, Avatar Aang." the Oracle regretfully informed him.

"If we exit Aang's world, things will go back to the way they were before, and Zuko will be cured?" Taranee queried the wise Oracle.

"Normally, my answer would be 'yes'." The Oracle, spying Zuko's fiery condition, hesitated to give a definitive answer. "But if he was touched by a Dragon of Infinity, I can offer no assurance that would be so."

"But there's a chance he'll get better if we go?" Taranee implored the sage at the Heart of Infinity.

"Yes, Guardian of Fire, there is a chance." the Oracle flatly stated. Then, having given the Guardians all they required to make a decision, the Oracle vanished.

"Don't forget. We still have to capture Phobos! He's probably causing all kinds of trouble on Meridian!" Cornelia said, trying to ease the pain of saying goodbye.

"Plus, I won't have a broken leg!" Toph added, seeing the bright side of the situation.

"There is that." Sokka commented.

"Well, that's it." Will said, summing up how her group felt. "Aang, I'm sorry. But we don't have much choice. We have to go home."

"I understand." Aang replied, eyes downcast.

"We all do!" Katara added, standing by the side of Aang. Aang and Katara, the newly-formed, loving couple who would forget how _much_ they loved each other once the Guardians finally took their leave. "You go ahead. We'll be alright! Thanks for all your help!" said the grateful, yet melancholy, water bender.

"It'll be okay, Aang." Hay Lin comforted the last air bender. "You won't forget me where it really counts. In here." she said, pointing to her heart.

As the Guardians said their goodbyes and made their farewells, Irma sulked.

Then, just as Will was about to whisk the Guardians away from the Avatar's world forever, the Water Guardian stood up and declared "No! We can't leave just yet!"

"Irma, what?" a baffled Will asked.

"I think I get it now!" Irma exclaimed, in a shock of insight. "Will, didn't you say that in order to understand others, you have to understand yourself?"

"Yeah, I may have said something like that." Will replied. "So?"

"So, I turned that around! Seeing what you guys went through has made me realize some things about myself!" Irma said, which made little sense to the other members of the group.

Noticing the looks of puzzlement on their faces, Irma continued her diatribe.

"When Taranee said she faced her fear, it got me to thinking..." Irma began.

"Huh? You faced your fear?" Will asked, looking at Taranee. "When was that?"

"Yeah. It's in my journal. But..." Taranee replied.

"That whole Dream World was all about facing our fears! Remember? Except there, we failed!" Irma continued, recalling the false Heatherfield they had all visited, and were almost trapped in, compliments of Zuko and Prince Phobos.

"Okay, Irma, but I don't see what that has to do with anything." Cornelia interjected.

"Corny, it's so clear now!" Irma explained. "You were petrified at the thought your powers would change you, and look at you now! You're a plant, and you don't even mind!"

"Well, sure, I was a bit worried about that." Cornelia conceded.

"More than a bit! Then, since you had such great control over your 'plant spirit' powers, you had the strength to stand up to the whole Spirit Army!" Irma emphasized. "And Will, you were so scared of your powers getting out of control, you didn't even tell us you could blow things up!"

"True. I was pretty concerned about my powers." Will agreed.

"But you figured it out! Good thing, too, or Aang wouldn't even be here!" Irma pointed out.

"Taranee, you were afraid you weren't 'special' without your fire powers. But you got over that once you spent some time in the Fire Nation, the one place you'd be _least_ special! Aang and the others never would have made it out of there if you hadn't! And Hay Lin, you wondered if you were meant to be a Guardian, or if it was forced on you by your Grandma. But you rose above that back in the Spirit World, when you gave that little speech about choosing your own destiny that saved us from the Spirit Army!" the surprisingly perceptive Irma Lair noted.

"Irma, what…Where are you going with this?" Will asked her compatriot.

"Just that, if you guys hadn't faced your fears, we'd be toast! And now it's my turn!" Irma replied, as she dug in the sand for a suitable tool.

"What do you mean 'your turn'?" the increasingly worried Will Vandom remarked, aware of her friend's precarious emotional state.

"Why, my turn to face my fear, of course!" Irma stated rather plainly. Then she took the sharp rock she had picked out of the sand, placed it against her arm, and gouged herself with it!

"Irma! What are you doing??" Cornelia shouted as she watched Irma's life essence trickle out of the deep gash on her arm.

"Oh my God!!" screamed the cringing Hay Lin.

"Are you nuts?!" yelled an angry Will, as she tore the rock out of Irma's hand.

"We'll have to put some disinfectant on that when we get back home." said Taranee, after examining the wound.

"Don't bother, T!" Irma told her friend, who thought Irma was surely going around the bend.

Irma took in the disbelieving stares, then proceeded. "Nuts? Probably. But watch this!" Irma put water on the injury, and it healed instantly. The other four Guardians could only gape in open-mouthed awe. "And I've been able to do this ever since I've been in this world." Irma calmly informed them.

"You knew that, and didn't heal my burns when we got caught in that forest fire?" Cornelia bitched.

"Cornelia, please! This is hard enough as it is!" Irma begged.

Cornelia was shocked! Irma was serious!

"Oh. It was more like soot marks, anyway. Sorry. Another case of verbal diarrhea." Cornelia apologized for her run-on mouth.

"Irma, go on." Taranee urged her confessing companion. "What does this healing ability have to do with your fear?"

"Remember that soldier I told you I killed?" Irma said, bringing up the one subject the Guardians had hoped to avoid. "Well, I didn't kill anybody! And I've known it all along." she disclosed. Irma looked her friends in the eye, then hung her head in shame. "But I didn't want to admit it. Because I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Cornelia curiously asked.

"What's the matter, Irma?" Hay Lin, her oldest friend, inquired. "How bad can it be?"

"Because...If I accepted that I can heal, then I'd have to accept that I'll never be normal. I'll be a Guardian forever!" Irma said, baring her soul. "And the truth is...I never wanted to be a Guardian!"

"What??" said the skeptical Cornelia. "But you always loved being a Guardian with cool water powers!"

"Oh, sure, I talk a good game!" Irma countered. "But I never wanted these powers. I didn't feel I deserved them. Think about it! Why else would I constantly misuse my powers for my own benefit, and even mouth off to the Oracle? I was daring him to fire me! I couldn't tell any of you, because you'd hate me for splitting the group up! It, it was easier for you to think me a murderer! At least then, I'd have an excuse for leaving W.I.T.C.H."

"Oh, Irma!" said Hay Lin, putting her hand on her troubled friend's shoulder.

"So here, on this world, I tried to deny my powers, deny everything. I saw it as a chance to start over. But I couldn't escape the Guardian thing." Irma continued. "Then that whole Dream World mess occurred!"

"But that was Zuko's and, and Phobos' fault!" Cornelia argued. "You didn't have anything to do with that!"

"No. That's not true." Irma confessed. "In some weird way, me and Zuko both built that world. And if I wasn't so busy enjoying my Guardian-free life, I would have been able to save us, and spare all of us a lot of pain! Especially you, Corny! I'm so sorry!"

Then the tears flowed.

"Irma, it's okay!" Cornelia said, as she tried to wrap her arms around her suffering friend.

But Irma wiped her eyes dry and waved Corny off. "It's alright! (Sniff!) I'm alright. Because I get it now. This is who I am. And I know why I'm here!" Irma announced, in a voice tinged with hope and purpose.

"Katara couldn't heal Zuko because his flames would have boiled her Spirit Oasis water away! But I'm souped up with the special Candracar H2O that can take the heat!" Irma boastfully asserted, as she walked up to the silent, and non-responsive, flaming figure of Prince Zuko. "I can heal him!"

"And once I cure Zuko, we can make our own decision on whether to stay on this world. We wouldn't be forced to leave to fix our mistakes!" the Water Guardian stated. "These people need us! If we stayed, we would keep our gift even without the Heart of Candracar, and combined with the extra power we have on the Avatar's world, we could do a lot of good!"

"I didn't know you wanted to stay, Irma." Will commented.

"It wouldn't have to be me." Irma nonchalantly replied.

Will glanced nervously at the others, but each of them averted their eyes. The four Guardians all had reasons to stay in the Avatar's world. Will could continue Xin Jing's work, and free oppressed places like Ba Sing Se. Taranee could help the Fire Nation chart a new, non-warlike course. Cornelia could aid the entire planet in a great way as the 'Plant Spirit'. And Hay Lin could help Aang re-establish the Air Nomads.

Irma then placed her hands upon Zuko's fiery form and water flowed from her fingers. As the liquid and the heat mixed, steam arose. Irma perspired profusely, but did not stop! She continued to pour it on! Healing waters washed over Zuko, one with the Dragon of Fire, in a nonstop wave of liquid magic, and then...

...Nothing!

Zuko did not change.

Did not revert back to human.

Did not heal.

Irma was aghast!

"It didn't work?? Why didn't it work?!" she sputtered.

"Maybe because he's infused with the power of Candracar, which doesn't respond to the healing of this world?" Taranee speculated.

"No no no! It should have worked!!" Irma railed against another bout of misfortune, stomping her feet on the ground and waving her arms furiously. "I don't believe this! I finally have my big moment, my big revelation, and this is what I get??

"Irma..." Will began, addressing the now silently fuming Water Guardian. Then she paused as the ramifications of Irma's failure finally sunk in, the other Guardians mirroring Will's weary acceptance of the facts.

"...I think it's time to go home."

_Expose yourself to your deepest fear;_

_after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes._

_You are free._

- Jim Morrison

_Coming up:_

_The girls say their goodbyes to the Avatar's world._

_(But not before they leave something behind!)_

_Plus: The Epilogues!_

_Find out whatever became of our cast of characters._

_But first:_

_We flashback to a happier time,_

_when our heroes were on vacation_

_and chanced upon an unusual place outside of Placid Springs._

Notes

Xin Jing's story laid the groundwork for Aang's death.

Xin Jing's edict, that no Spirit can harm another Spirit, doesn't apply to Koh's face-stealing, since that was a part of Wu Guo (Koh) before Xin Jing's decree. And the Spirit whose face is stolen isn't 'harmed', in that they're still alive (see the monkey spirit in Avatar episode 1-20).

Xin Jing wasn't a true spirit. She was in her spirit form/separated from her physical body (like Aang) when she met her fate, so her law didn't apply to her (or Aang).

I hear the moody Avatar theme music play when Aang comes back to life (the music they use when something important happens, like when Aang became one with the Ocean Spirit in Siege of the North Part 2).

Looks like Aang and Katara faced their fears, too. Which was not planned, but a nice addition to the story nonetheless. And I wrote it before I saw...what happened in Day of Black Sun. I don't want to give any spoilers away to those who haven't seen it.

Wu Guo is Chinese for 'centipede monkey'. Who looks like a centipede monkey? Koh. (Note that almost all of Koh's faces are of primates - that is, he uses the faces of man or ape. The only exception is the owl face). Koh is the trickster god of the Spirit World, which is why he can 'bend the rules'. In Chinese mythology, the monkey king was the trickster god. Koh was once Wu Guo, but something happened, and he changed. He then shortened/altered his name to 'Koh' (Possibly because it sounds like the Noh mask he usually wore. A female Noh mask, to honor/torture himself with the memory of Xin Jing?).

Did Koh free himself using his own power? Or did he have help?

'Liquidated', a reference to the Wicked Witch's fate in The Wizard of Oz.

"If I understand myself...I can understand others." Will pondered back in Chapter 16, recalling what the Guru told her.

Cornelia's fear previously caused her to reject her connection to the plant world, and therefore her standing as an earth spirit, which is why she didn't heed the Spirits' warning when she was in the Dream World (Chapters 28 & 29). She feared her powers changing her, alienating her from those she loves. When she got out of the Dream World, her fears still preyed upon her mind. She was troubled, and when her body tried to re-establish her connection to the earth, she got sick. But that re-established connection is why she felt the warning of the earthquake (Chapter 31). Cornelia had the greatest fear, so she had the greatest reaction to it in the Dream World (she went catatonic). But Cornelia was also the greatest beneficiary when she finally faced her fear and accepted her 'plant spirit' status.

'Eternal gift' is what the Guardians call the residual power they would retain after they stop being Guardians of Infinity. This is mentioned in issue 50 of the comic.

Air is freedom. The Spirits were 'detached from worldly concerns' and thus free. Then Nerissa introduced fear into their lives, making them un-free. Act IV: Air is about facing fear and thus gaining freedom. And now that the Guardians have done that, they're more confident, more skilled in their abilities and free to achieve their potential, whatever that may be. The 'sequel' to W.I.T.C.H. In The World Of Avatar, the 'What If', explores some of that potential. (It's also got a bit of Tokka, which is why those two have their moments in this chapter).


	59. Interlude 16: Romance Ridge

**Author's Note: This is another change of pace episode, and while at first glance it may appear to be out of place, after you read it I think you'll see why I put it here.**

Interlude Sixteen: Romance Ridge

Back when Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and the Guardians journeyed to the Tomb of Quo Jin aboard the back of Appa the air bison, they...got a little lost.

"Lost? We're not lost!" Sokka declared, unfurling one of his many maps, trying to figure out where they were while the wind blew the map all over the place. "We're just...not where we expected to be."

"Sounds like 'lost' to me!" replied the ever-sensible Toph.

"No, no, no." Sokka denied. "We're merely at an unscheduled place on our travel itinerary." the clueless navigator said in his defense.

"Why don't we do what my Mom always does when she's lost - stop and ask for directions?" Will Vandom suggested.

"Ask for directions?! Hmph! I know where we are!" Sokka insisted, pointing to a spot on the map that kept on shifting in his hands. "Right...here! I think."

"That's enough 'navigating' for now, Sokka! " Aang stated with a smile, lightly criticizing his friend so as not to hurt his feelings. "I'm putting us down until we know what direction to go in." he added, pulling on Appa's reins.

The group was on the ground for only a moment before a visitor wandered into the clearing.

"Hello, travelers!" said the man. "Welcome to Pleasant Valley Gardens!"

"Hello." Aang warmly greeted the newcomer. "What's Pleasant Valley Gardens? I don't see any village around here."

"That's because no one's moved in yet! But they will! This place will be huge! And Pleasant Valley Gardens is a much better name than the old name." the promo man said.

"What's the old name?" Aang wondered.

"Quiet Valley." the real estate man sincerely answered.

Everybody made a face at that ridiculous reply!

"Aang, let's get out of here!" a peeved Sokka exclaimed. "It's obvious this guy can't help us!"

"Are you sure about that, youngster?" the local p.r. guy teased. "As you're young, and traveling together, I bet you'd be interested in this guidebook and map I have!" he added, waving the items in his hand that were like catnip to the plan-making Water Tribe boy.

"A guidebook AND a map??" Sokka salivated. "Aang, we've got to get them!"

"How much, sir?" Aang inquired.

"5 silver pieces!" the guidebook peddler announced, dollar signs in his eyes.

"5 silver pieces??" Sokka bleated. "That's highway banditry!"

"It includes coupons to the local sights." the local attractions peddler added, softening the impact of his high cost items but not lowering the price.

"Well, I don't know." Sokka meekly replied, as the pockets of he and his companions were practically empty of such funds. They had spent the spare change they had on the multi-attraction package. "You wouldn't by any chance take Water Tribe money, would you?"

"No, I'm afraid not." the guidebook seller informed his potential customer, shaking his head negatively.

"Don't worry, Sokka!" Irma jumped in to save the day. "I got it!" she said, giving the money she made in Avatar Town to the map peddler.

"Wow! Thanks, Irma! You're the best!" Sokka applauded the Water Guardian, taking his prize from the guidebook man.

After checking the map for the location of the First Battlefield/Tomb of Quo Jin, Sokka glanced at the coupons, and inquired "What are these local sights?"

"There are the natural rock formations, of course, then Jump Rock, and..." began the promotional man.

"Jump Rock? What's that?" Katara asked.

"That's where an ostrich horse jumps a chasm." the p.r. maven explained.

"Ooooh!" the assembled cast gasped.

"Mm, and there's also the Canyon of Ice Spirits and Romance Ridge." the guide added.

"Romance Ridge? Tell me about that!" Cornelia, the dyed-in-the-wool romantic, eagerly inquired.

"A naturally beautiful area with a great view where couples pledge their undying love." the p.r. dude happily told her.

"Oh! How romantic!" Cornelia cooed.

" 'A natural area'? You mean another big rock?" Irma sarcastically quipped.

"Says the girl without a honey to hold!" Cornelia hissed.

"Keep it up, Corny!" Irma dared her fellow Guardian. The two frequently combative W.I.T.C.H.ies then eyeballed each other in a staring contest.

"Guys! Please!" Will bade the two to keep a lid on the mutual animosity sweepstakes. "Those all sound wonderful, sir! Where would we find them?" asked the Guardian leader, hoping to change the subject.

"Just past that hilly area there!" the local guide said, pointing the way. "You can't miss it!"

Since they had plenty of time, the GAang and the Guardians decided to check out the local attractions.

But Taranee noticed something unusual about the 'hilly area' when they walked through it.

"Uh, guys? I don't think these are hills!" the Fire Guardian stated.

"Then what are they?" Will asked.

"I've seen pictures of things like this. They're burial mounds!" Taranee announced.

"You mean like a graveyard? Creepy!" Irma shivered, wrapping her arms around her for warmth.

"Don't be so juvenile, Irma!" Cornelia chastised her.

"And you're so mature, right, CORNY??" Irma shot back.

"Shush, you two!" Will quieted the Earth and Water Guardians. "Are you sure, Tara?"

"Well, look at where we are!" Taranee elaborated. "On the high ground near the river. This area wouldn't flood when the river washed over its banks, making this the perfect place to put loved ones to rest. I remember my brother Peter's friend said he lived in a town in Illinois that claimed it had more dead people than live ones, because of all the cemeteries in the town limits. And those cemeteries were near a river and had Indian burial mounds!"

"What are 'Indians'?" the curious Avatar inquired.

"People who lived for thousands of years in the country we came from." Taranee replied. "Then our people moved in and, let's just say the natives are still around, but things are different." she added, not wishing to give a full overview of the sometimes sordid history.

"Oh." Aang responded, realizing he struck a nerve.

"Yeah, there are things inside these hills." the blind, but earth-sensitive Toph chimed in, bringing the discussion back to the burial mounds. She laid her hand on one of the more prominent heaps of dirt. "It feels like...lots of stuff."

"Bones?" asked the ghoulish Irma.

"Treasure?" asked the greedy Sokka, rubbing his hands in gleeful anticipation.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded her brother.

"It's likely they were buried with things important to them during their life." the scholarly Taranee reported.

"But the weird thing is, people of the Earth Kingdom don't build burial mounds." Toph Bei Fong said, creating a mystery. "Sure, we bury people when they pass away, but we don't build hills!"

"Really?" a surprised Katara said, thinking it over. "I know our people, the Water Tribe, didn't. Our earth was frozen solid! All of our people received burials at sea."

"And the Fire Nation puts their dead on funeral pyres. I saw them when we were in some of their coastal towns." Sokka added.

"Aang?" Katara asked the air bender. "What about your people?"

"The Air Nomads had a few different ways of honoring the dead, although I'm sure you don't want to hear the details!" Aang informed the group. "But we didn't build mounds!"

"Taranee, you said when your people moved in, they buried their dead next to the burial mounds that were already there? That's interesting." Aang noted.

"Yeah." the Guardian of Fire agreed. "The settlers recognized the special meaning the land had for the Indians and didn't change its purpose. They realized it was sacred territory."

"You're right, Taranee. It **is** sacred!" Katara declared. Then, turning towards the Avatar, she said "Aang, we need to make an offering to the Spirits."

"Right here?" Sokka balked. "We don't even have a shrine!"

"Leave that to me!" Toph exclaimed, building an earth and rock shrine. "For a proper shrine, though, we're going to need a gate of wood. Cornelia, could you?" she requested of the Guardian of Earth.

"Sure, Toph! No problem!" Cornelia responded to her fellow earth girl, causing the ground to sprout wooden pillars with a roof that resembled the gates she'd seen on her travels through the Earth Kingdom.

"Since Toph and Cornelia built the shrine, they don't have to leave an offering. Who'd like to go first?" Katara implored, looking around at the group of elementals (and Sokka).

"I will!" the perpetually perky Hay Lin announced. "I'll give the Spirits a photo of the Council of Candracar!" she said, pulling the photo out of her bag.

"Ah, well, I'll give them this charm bracelet." Will joined in, taking a bracelet with the letters 'W' and 'M' off her wrist and placing it on the shrine.

"Will! Isn't that the bracelet Matt gave you?" Cornelia asked.

"Yeah. For our one monthsary." Will revealed. "But I'm sure he'll understand."

"I'll give the Spirits this rope!" Sokka beamed.

But the others looked askance at this 'gift'.

"What?" Sokka defended himself. "Rope has 101 uses! Spirits have got to like that!"

"And in case the Spirits ever need to buy anything..." Irma flippantly said, flipping a coin into the offering area.

Cornelia merely shook her head at her crass teammate.

Katara quietly pulled out one of her two hair loopies and placed it on the makeshift shrine.

"Katara? One of your hair loopies?" Sokka asked her sister, in an unusually serious tone of voice for the Water Tribe teen. "But Mom gave you that."

"I know. But somehow, doing this makes me feel closer to her." she replied.

"Here, Spirits. A Pai Sho tile I found at the Southern Air Temple." Aang pronounced.

"Aang? Isn't that the only thing you have from your home?" the sensitive Katara inquired.

(Aang lived at the Southern Air Temple before he was trapped in the iceberg, and often played Pai Sho with his mentor, Monk Gyatso.)

"Yes. But it's like you said, Katara. Giving this makes me feel connected to my people." Aang replied.

Then came the last of them.

"Tara?" Will wondered, looking at the Fire Guardian in anticipation.

But no offering was forthcoming.

"Sorry, guys, but this is all superstitious nonsense!" Taranee announced.

Seeing the hurt looks on the faces of her new-found traveling companions, Taranee quickly backpedaled. "No offense to any of your beliefs. I just can't believe in Spirits or anything like that."

Sensing the downer pall descending on the group, Irma quickly changed the subject. "Hey! Forget all that noise! We're supposed to be on vacation! Let's have some fun!"

So off they marched to visit Jump Rock and the Canyon of the Ice Spirits, finishing with a tour of the rock formations.

"Well, that was fun!" Aang exclaimed. "Which part did you like best, Sokka?"

"I liked the ostrich horse jumping the gorge!" the Water Tribe boy responded.

"Oh, come on! That was only, what, six feet? I could jump that!" the unimpressed Irma declared.

"It was still fun!" Sokka said, defending his opinion. "And it was better than those rock formations! The Spirits could have done a lot better job carving them!"

"Ah, spirits didn't..." Taranee began.

"You're being a little harsh, Sokka!" Aang stated. "Table Rock looked like a table! Avatar Wen Tao's Profile looked like Wen Tao. From what I can remember, anyway. And Bird Rock looked like a bird...sort of."

"That's what I'm talking about! It's shoddy craftsmanship! You'd think the Spirits would have a little pride in their work!" Sokka complained.

"But..." Taranee tried to interject.

"Well, I liked the Canyon of Ice Spirits!" Katara chimed in with her opinion. "It was wonderful how the Spirits keep the place so cool, even on a hot day like today!" she beamed.

"It's not the work of 'spirits', okay!!" Taranee said, annoyance raising her voice. "The cold air there is caused by water from the stream running through it condensing on the canyon walls! And wind and water erosion created those rock formations, not any 'spirits'!" the scientifically-minded Taranee Cook lectured her Avatar World hosts.

"Uh, Taranee..." Will started, trying to remind the fiery, passionate Tara why they were on this trip: To gain the Avatar's trust, and not offend him and his friends.

"Why are you so skeptical of spirits, Taranee? Cassidy was a spirit!" Hay Lin noted. "In fact, all of Candracar and our powers are magic, and you believe in that!"

"That's different, Hay Lin!" The Fire Guardian argued. "There's a scientific basis for our powers! The aurameres collect elemental energy and transmit it to us."

Then Cornelia took center stage, and everyone's mind off the latest squabble.

"Oh! We still haven't seen Romance Ridge!" Corny gleefully shouted.

"Do we have to?" Irma wailed. "This place is one big tourist trap!"

"Don't be such a killjoy, Irma! I thought you like having fun?" the Earth Guardian commented.

"It should be good for a giggle, anyway!" Hay Lin cheerfully pointed out.

"Yeah, okay! Why not?" Irma cried, surrendering to the mood of the crowd.

While walking the path up to Romance Ridge, Irma got in another jab at her favorite earth elemental.

"Hard to believe you have the energy for another activity, Corny! After the way you packed in all that jelly curry at the snack bar by the Canyon, that is!" Irma teased her Guardian teammate.

"I was hungry, alright? It's not like there's a Benihana around here! And what's it to you, anyway?" the irritated Cornelia Hale retorted.

"You'd almost think you were eating for two!" Irma joked.

"What?? How dare you, Irma Lair!" the enraged Cornelia exclaimed. "You take that back, or...!" she said, hinting at a fearsome retribution.

"I meant because you miss Caleb so much." the Water Guardian calmly explained, sparing herself from the Earth Guardian's wrath.

"Oh. Well. That's different." Corny said, switching her emotional gears. Then she launched into criticism mode. "But you shouldn't joke about things like that, Irma!"

"Um, I think we're here." Toph announced to the group.

"How do you know that, Toph?" Cornelia asked her.

"Because this is the end of the road? Unless you want to jump off the cliff?"

Then the sighted members of the assemblage (everyone except Toph) peered over the edge.

The valley stretched out before them, the river running through it, sandstone rock formations and cliffs lining its sides, the forest erupting all around, with a waterfall a short distance upriver.

It was a beautiful sight!

All gasped!

"It's, it's..." said Will, unable to find the words, as she used her wings to hover over the side of the cliff.

"Whoa!" the normally unflappable Irma uttered.

"Oh. My." said Katara, who had seen a lot since she made the decision to travel the world with Aang the Avatar, but nothing like this!

"Toph, I...I wish you could see this." Sokka sadly told the earth bender.

"That's okay." the happy Toph stated. "I can feel all of your reactions. And it feels...good."

"It's lovely!" said Cornelia, in the understatement of the year, clasping her hands in joyful anticipation.

"Ah! You've seen why the ancients used this site for marriage ceremonies, I take it?" the site's operator interjected.

"Um, excuse me, sir." Aang interrupted, giving cover to Will so she could land and hide her wings under her robe. "But aren't you the same man who sold us the guidebook?"

"And the same guy who manned the refreshment stand at the Canyon of Ice Spirits?" Irma said, adding to the mystery.

"What? Oh no, those are my brothers!" the tour guide declared, none too convincingly.

"Marriage ceremonies?" Cornelia quizzed the guide. "But I thought you said, I meant your brother said, it was where couples pledge their undying love?"

"Same difference!" the tour operator replied. "Actually, we don't know what the ancients called it. We know very little of the ancients, in fact. We don't even know what nation they were a part of! But we do know what they did, because that's survived through stories passed down through the years."

"What's that?" Corny said, seeking details.

"It was more than marriage or even a pledge of love. Ancient couples used Romance Ridge to put their love to the test!" the tour man informed the visitors.

"Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that!" Irma moaned.

"Shush, Irma." Cornelia quieted her pessimistic friend. "How did they do that, sir?"

"They would light a pine branch on fire, then toss it off the cliff. If the branch remained lit the entire descent to the river, it meant their love was true and received the blessing of their people." the attraction operator said.

"That's wonderful! Could I do that?" Cornelia sweetly asked.

"I just happen to have one left!" the guide/operator announced. "So who's the lucky guy? You, sir?" he said, pointing to Sokka.

"Eep! Uh uh, not me!" Sokka denied, backing away from the offered piece of wood like it was poison.

"Unfortunately, sir, Cornelia's boyfriend couldn't be here." Will told the local.

"Too bad none of you can stand in for him." the Romance Ridge caretaker commented. "Oh, well." he sighed, walking away with the branch.

"Hold on, sir!" Corny stopped him. "Stand in?"

Moments later (and after the Romance Ridge operator had left the scene)...

"I knew I wasn't gonna like this!" Irma complained. "If I get burned..."

"You won't get burned!" Taranee, standing next to Irma, assured the Water Guardian. "I control fire, remember?"

"It's great that you guys are all helping me with this!" Cornelia Hale, in the middle of the pack, applauded her Guardian comrades.

"Hey, it's no problem, Cornelia!" Will, at one end, merrily chimed in. "What are friends for?"

"And it is fun!" Hay Lin, anchoring the other end, blissfully chirped.

All of the elementals of Candracar had their hand on a piece of the wooden branch.

Cornelia's fellow Guardians couldn't decide which_ one _of them should stand in for the missing Caleb, so _all four of them _elected to do it.

(Irma wasn't wild about it, but didn't want to be left out).

Before lighting the piece of pine, Taranee educated the group on certain laws back home. "Cornelia, you do know that some states allow marriage by proxy, right?" she kidded her Earth Guardian friend.

"Just don't tell my parents!" Corny chuckled.

"How about don't tell Caleb?" Irma joked.

They all cracked up at that one!

At the same time they enjoyed that merry jest, Taranee lit the branch on fire and Cornelia, her sides convulsing with laughter, leaned over the side of the cliff...

...and fell!

Her compatriots quickly grabbed her and reeled her in, Will and Hay Lin using their flying ability to negate gravity so Cornelia didn't pull any of them over the side with her, with the happy result that none plunged to the river far below.

But in their scramble to save Cornelia, the Guardians lost their grip on the flaming branch!

"I got it!" Katara yelled, snagging the fiery piece of wood before it made its journey downwards.

But she wasn't the only one.

Another member of the group leapt for and plucked the burning branch from the air at the exact same time!

Aang!

The two benders looked at each other in distress, both realizing they were grasping a lit piece of 'love wood'.

Meanwhile, one Guardian couldn't resist an 'I told you so'.

"Alright, already! I said I was sorry, Irma!" Cornelia said, not sounding very sorry at all. "What more do you want from me?"

"How about leaving us out of your crazy ideas, for one?" Irma, arms folded, scolded her.

"What do you mean 'us'? You're the only one complaining!" the Earth Guardian retorted.

Then she spotted Aang and Katara.

"Hey, did you get that branch back so I can try again?" Cornelia asked them.

The air bender and the water bender looked at each other guiltily, then Aang addressed Corny. "Sorry. We...dropped it."

"What? But the guide said that was the last one!" Cornelia wailed.

"I'll go get it!" Taranee declared, shedding her robe and stretching her wings. Then she flew out of sight in search of the lost lumber.

Some moments later...

"Took you long enough!" Irma bitched, as the Fire Guardian soared back to the cliff.

But her hands were empty.

"Taranee, what?" the crestfallen Cornelia said.

"Sorry. It's..." Taranee replied, then hesitated as she spied Aang and Katara's worried looks. "...Gone. Couldn't find it. At all."

"Awwww!" Cornelia moaned.

"Cheer up, Cornelia! You don't need some silly ceremony to prove that your and Caleb's love is the real thing!" Will consoled her as they walked back down.

"I guess you're right." Cornelia glumly agreed. "But I am disappointed. it's like Katara said about the offering. I thought it'd make me feel closer to Caleb."

"Don't worry, Corny! I'm sure there are plenty of places back home where you and your boyfriend can take a flying leap!" Irma jeered.

"Keep it up, Irma..." Cornelia mildly threatened.

For her part, Taranee noted how relieved Aang and Katara were to get the news she couldn't find the 'love branch', then joined her friends exiting Romance Ridge.

Changing the subject, Taranee said "Did you guys notice that weird symbol scrawled on the rocks up there? It was the same symbol I saw in the Canyon!"

"Ancient graffiti? So?" Irma dismissively said.

"They're called petroglyphs, Irma!" Taranee corrected her teammate.

"Hey, did any of you wonder who used to live here?" Hay Lin said, adding to the conversation. "Because they sure seemed different! The burial mounds thing, and the flaming stick throwing..."

Then the Air Guardian turned to the Avatar and asked "Aang, did your people do anything like that?"

"No, and I don't think any of my past lives did, either!" Aang replied.

"It's obvious who lived here!" Toph the earth bender sternly declared. "This is the Earth Kingdom, after all!"

"But the Northern Air Temple is just north of here!" Aang shot back. "So it could have been Air Nomads!"

"Except they lit that stick on fire!" Sokka pointed out. "So it could have been Fire Nation! Their colonies aren't too far west of here! Maybe they do have ancestral claims to the area, as crazy as it sounds!"

"Sokka, the people who settled around here were obviously at one with nature, so I doubt it was Fire Nation!" Katara, the proud Water Tribe girl, claimed. "It sounds more like our tribe! Water Tribes do move around a lot, as you well know!"

"Maybe...maybe you're all right?" the Fire Guardian concluded. "Maybe back then all the Nations lived together!"

Aang, Katara, Sokka and even Toph 'looked' at each other, then burst out in gales of laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Good one, Taranee!" Sokka said, holding his sides as they jiggled with glee.

"All, all the Nations living together??" Katara said, chuckling at the thought. "Sure, that would be great, but Aang, has that ever happened?"

"Not that I can recall." Aang replied, smiling all the way. "And I can recall a lot!"

"Really? Because I thought..." Taranee began. Then she stopped, and changed her demeanor to one of pique. "Go ahead and laugh at the silly girl who thinks she knows everything! I get it! I never should have made fun of your beliefs."

"What? No, we're not laughing because of that!" Aang confessed. "Really!"

Then Aang took the Guardian of Fire aside and privately conferred with her.

"Taranee, we realize things are probably different where you come from. That's why we weren't that upset with what you said abut the Spirits." Aang said to her.

"Well, you should have been! Sometimes my emotions get the better of me and I say stupid things!" the contrite Taranee admitted.

"But maybe they're not so stupid! Maybe you are right about the Ice Canyon and the carved rocks and even the people who lived here?" Aang conjectured. "I'm the Avatar, sure, but I'm the first to admit I don't know everything! And the idea of all the nations living as one, it's so far out of our experience, it scares people. And I think that's why Sokka and Katara and I laughed so hard at you."

"Huh." Taranee exhaled, considering the idea. Then she turned to the young air bender with admiration in her voice and on her face. "You know, Aang, you're pretty wise for a kid!"

"Well, I am the Avatar!" he beamed. "Sometimes, even I get it right!"

"What you said, it reminds me of something I heard." Taranee philosophized. "I think I know a lot. And I do, because I work at it, and I'm proud of that. But I'm only beginning to learn just how much I don't know! And I can't even imagine the things I don't know I don't know!"

"Huh??" said the thoroughly confused young Avatar.

Then Taranee addressed the leader of her band of young heroes. "I have a stop to make before we go, okay, Will?" Taranee requested.

Will having given her assent, Taranee proceeded to the shrine to the Spirits constructed by Toph and Cornelia, and gave an offering.

Her eyeglasses!

"For the Spirits, something to help watch over us." Tara said, as she placed the spectacles upon the shrine.

"But, but, Taranee! Your glasses?? How will you see?!" a very puzzled Will questioned her friend.

"Somehow, in my time spent here, my eyes healed." Taranee revealed. "I haven't needed my glasses for a while!"

"But what if it's only a temporary effect from your stay on this world?" the concerned Will asked. "What then?"

"I can always get another pair if I need it." Taranee confidently said. "When we get back home."

"Yeah? You're that sure we'll go home, knowing all of the bizarre things that have happened so far?"

Tara glanced back at Aang and Katara, chatting amicably among themselves, then turned to Will and remarked. "I'm sure, Will. I'm seeing things a lot clearer now."

Meanwhile, on the river below Romance Ridge, a piece of pine wood floated downstream.

A piece of wood, aflame.

It had never gone out.

Not while it made its descent to the river.

And not after Taranee found it bobbing in the water.

Nor while she stared at it, waiting for it to extinguish itself.

Defying all known laws of science (all laws known to Taranee, that is).

And still the wood burned.

_Next:_

_The Guardians say goodbye to the Avatar's world,_

_and we find out what happened to (almost) everybody!_

Notes

Romance Ridge was also inspired by my trip to Wisconsin Dells. The native Americans performed marriage ceremonies and a love test similar to the one detailed in this chapter at a place called Romance Cliff. Also, there are other legends of 'lovers' leaps' among native American tribes in Hawk's Nest in West Virginia and Blowing Rock, North Carolina. A Spirit, a powerful gust of wind (an air spirit?), is said to have saved the brave who threw himself off the cliff at Blowing Rock (the place where snow falls upside down).

Burial mounds are an ancient funerary practice throughout much of the world, but abandoned in modern times, mausoleums having replaced them.

Tibetan (the Air Nomads are modeled after Tibetans) funeral practices are varied, from entombment to water and cliff burials, but the most interesting and common is the celestial burial, which involves vultures. Like Aang said, you probably don't want the details!

Matt gave Will the W-M bracelet in issue 53 of the comic.

Wisconsin Dells has rock formations that look like an alligator, a chimney, Indian chief Black Hawk, a visor and an anvil. Witches Gulch is a narrow canyon. Water rushing through the canyon lowers the temperature about twenty degrees. Plus, there is a dog that jumps a small gorge at Stand Rock, which is based on a famous photograph in the early days of photography that used stop-action, so the subject, a boy, looked like he was flying through the air. And an Indian legend claims the whole area was formed by a Green Dragon.(the heat of his heart melted the glaciers, his body dug river channels and lakes, and long, green quills fell from his body, beginning the forest). There's even a legend about a ghost Indian maiden who searches for her long lost lover when 'the moon is a silver canoe'. Sounds a little like Yue to me!

I don't know if Wisconsin Dells has Indian burial mounds, but plenty of places do. And that cemetery with ancient burial mounds does exist. In fact, it's about a mile from where I live.

The native Americans of the Wisconsin Dells have an interesting (and sad) history. Four times the government evicted them from their land and sent them away to Iowa or Nebraska, and four times they walked back to their home, where "wave and rock and tall pine meet". Finally, the chief of the tribe bought 40 acres of federal land, so they couldn't be kicked off it. (Yeah, they had to buy their own home!) But they have their own casino now, so everything's cool, right?

The symbol Taranee notices is of the white lotus. She learns what it is in Chapter 38.

In the comics, Taranee's eyes regenerate, so she doesn't need glasses anymore. But she can't tell anyone that, so she continues to wear glasses with non-corrective lenses.

The ending is a message of hope, of the nations coming together just as Aang and Katara's love is fated to come together. With the flaming branch floating down the river, there's wood (earth), water, fire and air (which is feeding the fire) not only co-existing, but supporting each other in harmony.


	60. The Epilogues

_And now, the rip-snortin' wrapup to W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar: The Epilogues!_

Chapter 41: The Epilogues

_There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... _

_I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?_

- Robert F. Kennedy

Epilogue 1: Goodbye

"I'm sorry if I raised your hopes, sir." an apologetic Irma, eyes downcast, stated to Iroh, as the former Fire Nation general stood next to the mute, flaming form of Prince Zuko, who was lost in his own mind.

"It's not your fault, Irma." the wise master fire bender said to her. Then he lifted her head to meet his gaze, smiled, and told her "Besides, I'm sure Zuko is going to come out of it very soon, and as a much better person, to boot!"

"That's very kind of you to say, sir..." Irma politely began her response.

"Iroh." he corrected her.

"Iroh. Thank you." she sincerely said.

"Oh, don't thank me just yet!" the affable Iroh roared. "Katara mentioned your little ice problem. We discussed it, and we're sure you can make ice! You merely need some practice. Well, probably a lot of practice, but you do have the ability!"

"Really? That's great!" an ecstatic Irma shouted, throwing her arms around the portly fire national in a hug. "Thank you so much! I only wish I had something to give you!"

"Continue to take care of your friends. They need you." the sage Iroh informed her. "And I think you need them, too. Even when they drive you crazy!"

"Yeah, you're probably right!" the braggy Irma readily agreed. "They'd be totally lost without me!!"

"Hey, Taranee!" Irma called to her Fire Guardian friend. "Iroh says I can make ice!"

"That's great, Irma!" Taranee responded. "I've been telling Toph something similar. That I think fire benders aren't the only ones who can bend lightning!"

"But that's crazy!" Toph countered. "Earth is nothing like lightning!"

"But we all did it once!" Taranee told the skeptical earth bender. Then the Guardian of Fire turned to her water-powered teammate. "Remember the Kaithim, Irma?"

"Hey, yeah! You're right!" the Water Guardian recalled.

"It's simple, Toph." the Fire Guardian lectured the Earth Kingdom girl. "You see, lightning, or electricity, is just the movement of differently-charged ions through a medium."

"Can anyone translate that?" the thoroughly befuddled Toph asked.

"You have two things with different charges, or levels of energy. Like, here's a storm, and over here's a tree." Cornelia said, setting her hands far apart. Then she moved them next to each other. "Get them close enough and ZAP!" she exclaimed, explaining the concept of electricity in terms even a child could understand.

"Why didn't she say that?" Toph grumbled.

"There's various kinds of electricity." Taranee added. "The one most useful to you is probably piezoelectricity. That's electricity created with crystals!"

"Like spark rocks, right? Oh, and don't forget static electricity!" Irma interjected. "I used to have a BIG problem with that before we got our humidifier!" she joked.

"And there's bioelectricity." Taranee continued..." I bet Katara could..."

The educated Guardian of Fire rambled on, but Irma's attention was taken by her high-flying friend.

"Hey, Irma! I heard you can make ice! That's great!" Hay Lin cheered.

"Yeah, I suppose." Irma replied, totally unimpressed. "But you know what? I think I'd rather make ice the old-fashioned way...With my best friend!" she added, smiling broadly at her long-time pal.

Hearing how much her friend valued her made Hay Lin glow with joy!

"...And don't forget short circuits!" Taranee said, finishing her thesis on electricity for her Avatar World friends.

"That's some great info! Too bad we're going to forget all that once you say goodbye!" said the morose Sokka, reminding all assembled what will happen once the Guardians leave their world.

"So write it down, Sokka!" Katara chided her brother. "Honestly!"

"Oh, right! Gotcha!" the Water Tribe boy said, remembering what he did 'in class' at the 'school' he attended in the Dream World Heatherfield.

Katara could only shake her head. Her sibling could be so smart, and yet so dumb, at the same time!

"And when we get back, you're all taking combat training! I won't be the only one carrying the load the next time we're without the Heart or unable to transform!" Guardian leader Will Vandom ordered the other Keepers of the Elements.

"But that's what Caleb is for!" protested Irma.

"Yeah!" agreed Corny.

"No argument!" Will said, holding firm to her stance.

"Whoops! I think that's my fault! Sorry, guys!" Hay Lin sheepishly admitted.

"I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot." Taranee apologized to Aang, Katara and Sokka.

"Forget all that." Aang replied. "We already have!"

"Forget what?" Sokka joked. "Never mind." he added, when his jest failed to elicit any giggles.

"We'd never have made it without you!" Katara emoted, giving Taranee a hug.

"I only wish I could do more!" the Fire Guardian regretted.

"I wish you could do more, too!" Sokka lamented. "More cooking, that is!"

"What's the matter with my cooking, Sokka?" Katara nagged.

"Katara, hanging meat over a fire is not cooking!" the Water Tribe teen coolly informed his sister.

"You never complained before!" the offended water bending girl pointed out.

"Well, I'm much more...worldly now." stated the faux sophisticated Sokka, who had acquired a taste for Iroh and Taranee's more creative cooking during their extended stay in the Fire Nation. "By the way, Taranee, can you give me your recipe for Won Ton soup before you go?"

"Actually, I got that from Hay Lin." Taranee said, correcting the record. "But sure, it'll be no problem!"

"Bye, Aang! I hope the Avatar State thing works out for you!" the Guardian of Quintessence warmly said.

"I'd never have mastered the Avatar State without the 'four-in-one'! Thanks a lot! It was awesome!" Aang the Avatar replied.

"Bye, Katara! Bye, Aang!" the Guardian of Water said, then added a parting shot "Let me give you two lovebirds some dating advice: Don't do anything I wouldn't do! Actually, that doesn't exclude a lot…So go for it, you crazy kids!" she teased the couple, whose love had just begun to blossom. "And Katara, I'll expect a full report from you if we ever get back here! And I mean ALL the juicy details!"

Aang and Katara both got a bit embarrassed at that crack!

"A double blush! Score!" Irma shouted.

"You're impossible, you know that?" Cornelia laughed.

I guess this is goodbye, Toph!" Corny squealed, hugging her fellow earth elemental. "I'll have to go barefoot more often!"

"Yeah, and I'll have to try ice skating!" Toph retorted. " 'Cause anything you can do, I can probably do better!" she added, with a twinkle in her unseeing (but not uncomprehending) eye.

"Hey, maybe when we come back some day we could bring Toph braille textbooks?" the optimistic Hay Lin suggested.

"Oh, and could you bring some chocolate, too?" Sokka eagerly added.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded her brother.

"What? You were thinking it, too! Admit it!" Sokka defended himself.

"I'm really going to miss this place!" Cornelia declared.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Corny!" Irma joined in. "But you want to know what I'm not going to miss? The living conditions!"

"Irma!" Cornelia criticized her companion. "It's not their fault their world doesn't have malls, or indoor plumbing, and is in a state of constant war, and, and you have to dig a hole whenever you have to...oh, never mind!"

"You were saying?" Irma quipped. "Just think what we have waiting for us at home: Food!"

"And our own clothes." Cornelia added.

"Food." Irma repeated.

"Catch up on our homework assignments." Corny dryly listed.

"Food!" Irma salivated.

"Sleep in my own bed!." Cornelia dreamed.

"What else? Wait…Let me think…Could it be, maybe, _food?_" Irma pondered.

"Private bathroom!" Cornelia exulted.

"Did I mention the food?" Irma joked.

"We can't go yet, Will!" Taranee told the leader of the Guardians. "There's still something I have to do for them!"

"But Taranee, you already gave them all that information on electricity!" the Energy Guardian demonstrated.

"No. They need more. But what?? What am I forgetting?" the Fire Guardian wracked her brain.

"Well, bye, Hay Lin." the young Air Monk reluctantly bade farewell to the Guardian of Air, who had given the last air bender such hope. Then, in an attempt to elongate the Air Guardian's stay and put off the inevitable, Aang had one more question. "Um, is it true your world sells flavored air like in that Dream place we visited?"

"Ah, I think that stuff is supposed to be a joke!" Hay Lin commented. "It's too bad you couldn't see the real Heatherfield!"

"It's sad we have to leave and all, Aang, but you'll get through this! I'm sure of it!" she confidently added.

"I suppose. But it won't be the same without you!" Aang cried.

"You only have to learn fire bending, right? Then you can defeat the Fire Lord and save the world!" said Hay Lin, looking on the bright side, as usual.

"Yeah, how about that. No problem! Heh." Aang replied, forcing a smile.

"I know what I have to do, Will!" Taranee uttered, after hearing the previous exchange. "And it's not about scientific theories, at all! It's much simpler than that! They need hope! And that's something my race understands very well, unfortunately!"

"What does Taranee mean, Will?" Aang wondered.

After the Keeper of the Heart explained the tumultuous history of African Americans, Aang gasped. "Your country had slavery?! _Legal _slavery?? Are you serious?!"

"It was a long time ago, and we've made a lot of progress since then. Although not enough, some would argue." Will elaborated. "But even after all these years, the memory of those dark days…still burns."

Then Taranee Cook, Guardian of the combustible element, fire eking out of her every pore, took to the air. She flew through the upper atmosphere, blazing a fiery trail as she went.

Soon, a familiar image began to take shape - the face of Aang, arrow tattoo and all!

Not only that, but above his flaming head were the words "HOPE LIVES"!

"It's not quite 'surrender, Dorothy', but I'll take it!" Irma joked.

"Would you look at that..." was all Sokka could manage to spit out.

"It's wonderful!" Katara gushed.

"Talk about sending a message!" Will observed.

The face and words were so large in the sky, people living hundreds of miles away could see it.

Even in...the Fire Nation!

In the Fire Lord's Palace, Fire Lord Ozai took a sip of his morning beverage and calmly walked to the porch entrance to the Palace Gardens. He flung open the doors, stepped outside into the fresh air, looked up and saw..._it! _The next moment, his glass was shattered into scores of pieces on the porch, and the door slammed shut.

Meanwhile, Princess Azula, near the scene of her latest defeat, stared at the sky with golden yellow eyes that burned with all the intensity of a dozen exploding suns!

Alighting after her skywriting jaunt, Taranee joined the other Guardians as Will prepared to open the portal to home.

"Oh, you know, that reminds me of that speech we learned for school!" Hay Lin interjected. "The one we memorized and did a dramatic reading? 'I Have A Dream'?"

Then Hay Lin recited one part of the famous Dr. King speech, with her compatriots joining in on the following verses. "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today."

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."

"And don't forget the big finish!" Irma shouted. "Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

"Irma!" Cornelia reflexively uttered at the Water Guardian's latest affront to common decency. But the truth is, even the prim and proper Cornelia Hale wasn't upset at her rambunctious friend this time!

"That…sounds like a wonderful dream!" Aang responded, the words of the speech filling his heart. "I take back anything bad I said about your world!"

"And Aang, that dream won't fade away when we do!" Hay Lin pointed out.

"Yeah, I know! Thanks for everything!" Aang remarked, with a smile upon his face that was true. "Thank you, all of you!"

As the Guardians made their way, one by one, through the portal leading to their homeworld, they waved goodbye to the friends they had made on the Avatar's planet.

"This is it! Time to go! So long, everybody!"

"Bye!"

"Thanks so much!"

"Betcha any money the Oracle pulls some time travel trick so we get back only hours after we left!" Irma wisecracked while walking towards the fold in space.

"Does that mean my astral drop won't wear my clothes?" Cornelia said with a grin, as she stepped through the gateway to Heatherfield. "Ah, but who cares? Be it ever so humble, there's no place like…"

Then, in a flash of light, the five girls from another planet were gone from the world of the Avatar.

Toph was the first to speak about the departed Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions.

" 'Conditioner'? 'Humidifiers'??" Toph snorted. "What a bunch of weirdos!"

"Toph! That's not very nice!" said the sweet-natured Katara. Then she paused. "Okay. They were a little weird!" she conceded.

Epilogue 2: Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph

"Wait, what were we talking about?" Aang said, scratching his head.

"Vacation?" Katara offered.

"Hold on, what's all this stuff in my pocket about 'electricity'?" Sokka wondered.

"Electricity? What's that?" Toph asked.

"I don't know." replied the bemused boy from the South Pole. The teen then shrugged his shoulders and tossed the scientific paper aside.

"Oh! What's this?" Sokka excitedly said, examining another piece of paper from his pocket. "A recipe for Won Ton soup? Now that sounds promising!"

"Forget that, Sokka! Look!" Aang directed the Water Tribe warrior's attention to the flaming visage of Aang in the morning sky.

"Well, I'll be!" Sokka uttered.

"How did it get there?" Aang asked. "Do you think Avatar Roku did it?" the young air bender wondered.

(Because how else could fire writing appear high in the air, unless an Avatar with air bending and fire bending abilities put it there?)

"I don't think how it got there is what's important. Just the fact that it's there…It means something, Aang!" Katara speculated. Then her face brightened. "It means you'll learn fire bending and everything will be all right. I just know it!"

"Maybe you're right." Aang smiled.

The thought would warm his soul many times in the next few months, when faced with challenges that would crush the spirit of the strongest among us.

And for that moment, all around the world, hope did indeed live.

"Thanks, Katara!" Aang said, giving the water bending lass a special hug.

"What's that for?" Katara giggled.

"Everything!" Aang replied, grinning like a madman (mad in love, that is!)

Though the two special benders had forgotten how close they had become while the Guardians were in their world, there was still _something _there, something neither had admitted to the other.

"Is it time for another group hug, already?" the romantically clueless and unwitting relationship killer Sokka wondered.

"Oh. Sure. Group hug." Aang said, his hopes deflated.

"Group hug? Oh. I see. Yes. Of course." Katara added, equally disappointed.

"Well, I have to say, it's an odd time for it, when we're discussing vacations!" Sokka emphatically stated, putting the kibosh on the idea. Neither he nor Toph elected to participate in this supposed 'group hug'.

"Oh, right! Vacation!" Aang said with a shock of recognition (and some slight embarrassment). Then, holding up a map, he exclaimed "Your turn, Katara! Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"

"How about the Misty Palms Oasis?" the water bender suggested, pointing to a spot on the map. "That sounds refreshing!"

"Oh, yeah, I've been there!" replied the Avatar. "It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I don't usually use the word 'pristine'! It's one of nature's wonders!"

"But..." Toph hesitated. She was uneasy with Katara's vacation choice, but said no more.

"Yes, Toph?" Katara sought the earth bender's comment.

"Never mind, Kat." Toph coolly replied.

Her odd use of the shortened form of the Water Tribe girl's name elicited a "Huh?"

"I mean, Katara." said Toph, smiling insincerely.

Epilogue 3: Avatar Roku and The Oracle

In a place not a place, beyond all time and space, the long-dead spirit of Avatar Roku conferred with the Oracle of Infinity.

"Thank you, Oracle." Avatar Roku intoned. "I could not have asked for a better distraction. The evil one was unable to divine our true intentions."

"I am pleased I was able to offer you the assistance you needed at a most crucial time, Avatar Roku." the Oracle replied. "It is to our good fortune all of our goals were met by the Guardians' mission to your world. They grew and evolved in their role as Keepers of the Elements, and you were able to divert the attention of the being with ill designs for all we hold dear. When you first came to me lo those many years, I meditated at great length on your plight, but even then I was unsure if my advice would do you any good."

"Thank the Spirits, it did. The rise of evil on my world long ago concerned me immensely, but I knew I was fated to pass from the scene before it could be stopped. When you first told me the disappearance of the Avatar could act as a form of 'shock treatment', and a catalyst for the healing of my world, I was highly skeptical." Roku commented. "However, letting evil win temporarily to force the pendulum to swing back in a most unexpected way, did indeed pay dividends. I only regret I was forced to place Aang in abeyance until that new force emerged, but a skilled Avatar was needed at the proper time, or all would have been for naught."

"Yes, now it is up to Aang. Is he ready for what is to transpire?" the Oracle gently asked.

"I have complete confidence in the boy. He will not let us down." Avatar Roku pledged.

"You have much to be proud of, Oracle." the ancient Avatar continued. "You chose well your Keeper of the Heart, and also the Guardians of Air and Fire. They show a wisdom beyond their years. But the other two…concern me. They too often let emotions guide their decisions."

"Their ways may seem strange, Avatar Roku, but their hearts are in the right place." the serenity at the Heart of Infinity stated. "They have never disappointed me."

"As you say, Oracle."

Epilogue 4: Cornelia and Irma

While the Guardians didn't return to Heatherfield 'only hours after they left' as Irma had hoped, getting back into the swing of things was no problem.

The Elyon-created astral drops, with Matt and Caleb's able assistance, performed admirably in the girls' absence for the most part (clothes choices notwithstanding), and their lives soon returned to normal.

Although there were some...changes.

"Taranee was pretty mad about her eyesight when the Oracle told her it wasn't caused by the trip to Avatar World, but was a 'gift of Xin Jing's' he never told her about!" Cornelia Hale discussed the news of the day with Irma Lair.

"Yeah! She really let the Oracle have it! Do you think she'll actually quit?" Irma wondered.

"I don't know, but I doubt it. You'd think she'd be happy her eyesight was cured!" Cornelia declared.

"I kind of got the feeling Will agreed with Tara, but she wouldn't say anything." Irma added.

"What? That Will wanted to quit, too?" a puzzled Cornelia queried her friend.

"Maybe not quit, but, that she was mad at the Oracle, also, for keeping things from her and she was using Taranee to speak for her." Irma perceptively noted.

"Oh, they might complain, but they won't quit! We're a team!" Corny steadfastly insisted.

"Taranee told me she's going to wear glasses that won't affect her eyes." Irma added.

"You mean nonprescription?" Cornelia clarified.

"Yeah, that's it!" Mr. Lair's only daughter acknowledged. "T doesn't want to have to explain how her eyes got fixed!"

"You're right. That could be a _wee _bit difficult. And it could draw a lot of unwanted attention, like from that creepy Sylla guy!" Cornelia shivered, mentioning their new teacher who had showed an inordinate amount of interest in the girls' affairs. They suspected he knew _some_thing, though they weren't sure exactly what, about their secret role as Guardians of Infinity.

"Speaking of changes..." Irma broached the subject they had been avoiding. "Can you still turn into that plant thing?"

"Plant thing??" Corny took on an air of amused umbrage. "Now I'm a movie monster?"

"You know what I mean!!" Irma, a bit annoyed Cornelia dodged the question, shot back.

"No. I haven't been able to activate my 'plant spirit' powers ever since we got back from the Avatar's world." the Earth Guardian said, belatedly answering Irma's query. "How about you? Can you still heal?"

"No. And here I thought I could finally make my mom happy by becoming a doctor!" Irma joked.

"Oh well. Easy come, easy go, I guess." Cornelia sighed.

"I guess." Irma concurred.

"You know what surprised me the most about that whole trip?" Irma said, and then immediately answered her own question. "You, Corny! I never knew you lacked confidence in yourself! You always had everything! Always been 'Miss Perfect'!"

"Irma…Did you ever stop to think that meant I had more to lose?" Cornelia wistfully replied.

"Geez, if you have problems, what hope is there for me??" the depressed Water Guardian mused.

"Are you kidding me? Without you on our side, we'd have been beat by Zuko! Or, or working for that creepy Koh guy…without a face! Ew!!" the blonde blanched. Then she became more thoughtful. "I shouldn't have said that stuff back in the Spirit World about you not having a boyfriend. Sorry."

"Forget it. We both have big mouths!" Irma remarked. "Besides, it was a good line! Now I have to think up an even better one about you!"

"It's certainly not a bad thing, that you don't have a boyfriend. Heck, it probably means you're smarter than the rest of us, because you won't settle for just anyone!" Cornelia added, in a good-hearted but clumsy attempt to make her friend feel better about herself. "You'll probably wind up with the best boyfriend out of all of us!"

"While you'll end up with some biker, making you a biker chick, but you'll still hold it against us in some way!" Irma joked. Then she imitated a snooty Cornelia voice and said "Irma, we don't use gasoline! Our bikes use bio-something for fuel, so they're far superior to your gas guzzlers!"

"Ha! You're probably right!" Cornelia laughed.

"What? No, I'm making fun of you! You're not supposed to agree with me!" Irma replied in mock indignation.

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Courtney Grumper?" Irma mentioned offhandedly, naming one of their classmates, and a particularly annoying girl, at that.

"No. What about her?" Corny asked, eager to hear all the dirt. Cornelia and the Grumper twins had never gotten along. She tried her best to avoid them, but the duo loved to antagonize the Hale's oldest daughter.

"I overheard Courtney tell her sister Bess she planned to lovebomb David Mechakis!" Irma gossiped.

"No! So what'd you do, Irma?" Cornelia urged her friend to continue her story.

"What makes you think I did anything?" said the innocent Miss Lair.

"Because I know you! Now spill!" Cornelia demanded.

"Courtney was about to walk up to David, but, let's just say, her plans got all wet!" Irma said proudly, a big smile on her face.

"You didn't?!" said Corny, in mock shock.

"I may have!" Irma beamed. "Officially, a 'water main broke'! Which is true, because all that water had to come from somewhere!"

"Ha! Good one!" Cornelia applauded. Then the normally modest and refined Miss Hale let out with a "Whoo!" and spontaneously threw up her hand in a 'high-five'!

Irma's hand met her friend's gesture up high as Corny added an "Alright! Way to go!"

But Irma's celebratory mood changed as soon as her palm hit her companion's limb.

"Ow!!" she yelped. Irma then jerked her hand back. "Geez! I musta hit one of those sharp nails of yours! Next time we high-five, we should wear gloves!"

"Sorry!" said the contrite Corny. Then she noticed Irma's hand. "Are you okay? That looks like a bad cut!" the concerned Cornelia commented.

"I'm fine." Irma replied, sucking on the wound to reduce the pain. Then she displayed the injured hand. "See? It's just a scratch! No big deal!"

"Now let's get a move on!" Irma cajoled, in a lightning-swift mood change. "It's Thai Night at the Silver Dragon!" she announced.

"Food again? Is that all you ever think about?" Corny quipped.

"Mrs. Lin is making her special drunken noodles!" Irma slyly disclosed.

"Okay, I'm there!" vegetarian Cornelia chirped, jumping on board Irma's dinner plans.

As the two girls exited the scene (to the strains of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" Best Friends re-mix with Lil' Mama), neither noticed a thorny twig, sticking out of Cornelia's forearm near her wrist, drop away, or the cut on Irma's palm, slathered in the water from her mouth, slowly get smaller and smaller until it disappeared.

Epilogue 5: Professor Kei

In the ruins of the fabled Tomb of Quo Jin, a frantic Professor Kei dug, alone, in the rubble, searching desperately for _something._

He had salvaged most of the oddities and antiquities he lost to the recent earthquake, but this quest was special.

Finally, with a burst of adrenaline, his rough, scratched up hands heaved aside the last of the rocks and timbers that lay between him and his prize - a recent find so astounding, he told no one about it and hid it away in a storeroom in the Tomb complex until such time as he could determine how best to profit from it - the sarcophagus of Emperor Quo Jin, which had a tree wrapped around it in an unbreakable grip!

Even more amazing, the tree looked like a woman!

Epilogue 6: Nerissa

From atop her throne, Nerissa surveyed her lands.

The entire universe!

A universe at peace, because all acknowledged Nerissa as supreme leader.

Yet, one of her subjects was troubled.

Julian, her husband, wandered around as if in a daze.

Finally, he approached his Queen and asked "Milady, is everything alright?"

"Yes, of course, Julian. Everything is fine." Nerissa responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I thought I saw the Guardian named Will, and some monster, and..." said Julian, recalling the events that took place in the Dream World Heatherfield.

"Will is over there." Nerissa said, pointing to the Energy Guardian who had become one with her element's Dragon, and in thrall to Nerissa's service. "See? All is well."

"Yes. Of course. I must have been mistaken." Julian sheepishly replied. "Forgive my intrusion."

Nerissa was about to dismiss him, but reconsidered.

"Hmmm. Something does affect your mind. What did you see, Julian?" Nerissa asked. Before her consort could respond, Queen Nerissa used the combined power of the Hearts of Meridian, Candracar and Zamballah (among others) to peer into his mind.

What she saw gave her pause.

A normal, untransformed Will Vandom (which was unusual enough), but that didn't set off any alarms.

No, it was the monster Julian saw while in 'Heatherfield' that nearly freaked Nerissa out - Avatar State Aang!

"The Avatar!!" she gasped, remembering the months she spent on that world as if it were yesterday.

She quickly recovered, and then sought to use this information.

"The Avatar. Yes. How could I have forgotten him? The first one who failed me! I have much to plan. Julian, send for my greatest warriors! I have another world to add to my rule!" Nerissa cackled.

"Yes, my Queen." said Julian, bowing as he did so.

Alone in her throneroom, Nerissa schemed. "Soon, Avatar, you and yours will bow before me! And, finally, all will be at peace!" declared the dreaming Nerissa, who in actuality lived in a fantasy world trapped within the real Heart of Meridian, which sat at the bottom of a river on that planet.

Epilogue 7: Koh

In his microscopic prison in the Spirit World, the spirit once known as Wu Guo, the gleeful Spirit of Play, but now and forever infamous as the dread face-stealer, Koh, ruminated on his fate.

Then he changed his visage to that of his latest acquisition...the face of Phobos!

That face, that wonderful, _magical_ face.

NEVER THE END

_Well, I hope you enjoyed..._

_Hey, wait a minute!!_

_What about Zuko??_

_Next:_

_The Final Chapter!_

_With the fate of Zuko, other surprises_

_and a sneak peek of a (possible) Season 4 of Avatar!_

_Too bad Aang and the GAang aren't in it_

_(except the Season 4 part),_

_and the Guardians only have a cameo._

_Whoops! Almost let the cat out of the bag!_

_But it's a very, VERY IMPORTANT cameo!_

_Really!_

_And fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender will enjoy it,_

_since it has plenty of Avatarworld guest stars!_

_(Like, everyone who couldn't appear in __this__ story!)_

Notes

Irma, Cornelia, Taranee and Hay Lin created electricity and defeated the Kaithim in Season 1, Episode 23. But the way the Guardians created electricity is probably too complicated for the GAang to use in a fight with a lightning bender, so Taranee gives them the easiest, most useful information she can think of.

Forms of electricity - lightning, Triboelectricity (static electricity) - electric charge taken on by contact or friction between two different materials, Piezoelectricity - the ability of certain crystals to generate a voltage in response to applied mechanical stress, and Bioelectromagnetism - electrical phenomena within living organisms.

Spencer's Gifts sells flavored air (citrus, mint, and tropical are some of the flavors).

It sometimes seems to be a real contest between Irma and Sokka as to who can snag the best lines. My money's usually on Irma, because she can quip about current events, but I think Sokka stole the comedy show in this chapter.

Aang is clearly the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of his world (or Dalai Llama, or Mandela, or Gandhi. Whichever you prefer).

Dreams are the theme of this chapter. The Kennedy quote, the Dr. King speech, and Nerissa's present situation (as well as Zuko's) are all about dreams.

The Oracle 'cheated' time ("Time, like space, is fluid here" on Candracar, he stated), and sent the Guardians back to Heatherfield on the night they had left in the novel _W.I.T.C.H. Adventures: When Lightning Strikes. _

Testing the Guardians is a recurring theme in W.I.T.C.H. The elements themselves even tested the girls in issues 50-62.

Taranee learned why her eyes got better and quit the team temporarily in W.I.T.C.H. issue 27. I'm adapting this for my story, just as Nerissa and Shagon were adapted for the cartoon, but were changed around a bit.

Drunken Noodles (Tofu or Vegetable) - Pan-fried spicy noodles with bamboo shoot, onions, and sweet basil.

The Spirit Oasis water is special, so there's no guarantee that it would have 'reset' if Katara used it up in a futile attempt to heal Zuko. And she needed it to cure Aang after _The Crossroads of Destiny._

Irma got the power to heal because water benders on the Avatar's world have that ability. In the comics (issue 51), Cornelia is the one who gets healing powers, by way of the 'heat of the earth'. (Will gets the ability to cause short circuits, Taranee gets mind-reading, Hay Lin becomes a lie detector, and Irma sees the future in water, if you're wondering about the other girls). But the whole magic powers thing can get out of control. Heroes shouldn't be TOO powerful. Then their victories mean less, as it's not much of a challenge.

On the powers the Guardians discover while in the Avatar's realm

Will's 'explosive' new power (that the Oracle told her about before the Guardians went to the Avatar's world) of blowing things up is merely an extension of her normal lightning powers (expansion of energy in a small space equals explosion), as is the transformation ability she displayed (similar to her power to 'give life' to inanimate objects). Taranee's and Hay Lin's 'new powers' are similar extensions of their normal abilities. In the Avatar's world, Taranee had the power to control the flame of fire benders (including shutting that flame off). In Heatherfield/Meridian/etc., Taranee has the power to control fire, including fire she doesn't create. Hay Lin had the power to project her voice through the air in the Avatar's realm. Normally, she has the power to recall the past by the use of sound (although I believe that's a comic thing, and the cartoon didn't mention it). So, instead of hearing sound traveling through the air, she used air to transport sound. All of the Guardians could theoretically retain their new abilities when they return to Heatherfield. Whether they use them, though, is another story.

Professor Kei appeared in Interlude 11 and Chapter 31.

'Julian' (Nerissa's dream of Julian, that is), appeared in the Dream World Heatherfield when the barrier between worlds was weakened in Chapter 29.

Nerissa was trapped in her own dreamworld in the Heart of Meridian in the final episode of W.I.T.C.H., _Z is for Zenith_.

With all this unresolved stuff coming to the forefront (Koh with the face of Phobos, Prof. Kei finding the remains of Emperor Quo Jin and Kameshe the Spirit of Growing Things, Nerissa's designs on the Avatar's world, Taranee ready to quit the team, Will suspicious of the Oracle, while Irma and Cornelia, though they've made a lot of progress, remain too emotionally immature to use their new powers), I bet you're thinking sequel. But I have no sequel planned. (I do have a What If spinoff, an Avatar fanfiction adaptation with added material plus a W.I.T.C.H. prequel on tap, but no sequel). Anyone who wants to write a sequel, go ahead!

I briefly considered adding another W.I.T.C.H. character (like the Mage, or Elyon's mother, Queen Weira) to the mix, someone who had journeyed to the Avatar's world when the portal from Meridian to the Spirit World opened up years ago (the same portal Iroh took), but I abandoned that idea because I had nowhere to take it. And I had plenty of story without it.


End file.
